Mission Recall
by DanniMarie
Summary: Sent on a mission, Sakura is wounded and it's up to Kakashi to find out what went wrong, why had Tsunade sent her alone, why hadn't he been there to help her? NEW CHAPTER!
1. Chapter 1

Side note: this is a Sakura/Kakashi fanfic. It's my first so please be kind.

Re-edited on 02-10-2008

Please re-read this chapter before going to the next, I have edited it and have added a few things.

Mission Recall

Part 001

By DanniMarie

'Just a little further, I have to make it.'

The cold winter air burned in her lungs as she ran, not needing to turn around to know that they where still after her, pain not slowing them down as it was her.

Six Months Ago

Sitting there, behind her desk Lady Tsunade looked at the scroll in her hands. She didn't want to believe that what she was reading was true; however she knew that it was, there was no way that it could be a lie.

She had sent a team to look into some rumors about some rouge ninja between the borders of the Hidden Rock and the Hidden Waterfall. Knowing that is was unlikely to be connected to the Sound village. Sound had been quite as of late, and they hadn't heard anything out of Akatsuki for a few years.

'Could this be a new threat we need to worry about?' She thought as she looked up from the scroll and over her desk. There before her where the two people she knew that she could trust.

"Sakura, Kakashi, I have a mission for the both of you. This will be a team effort; however you won't be working together." At this, they looked at her as to question her, but thought it best to keep quite. They knew something was up; Lady Tsunade didn't give out orders at six in the morning.

"I sent a team to look into some rumors about a rouge ninja team between Rock and Waterfall. The mission took about two weeks, and in that time they where unable to gather anything from the people in the villages. It seems that they are too scared to talk, someone got to them, meaning that they have something to hide. I want to know what. I need to know if this is something that we need to worry about. I can't allow some group of rouge ninja gain power to attack Konoha, not again."

"We'll do the best we can." Sakura said, looking over to her former teacher, Kakashi. It had been over five years and she was more of a partner then a student to him. They had been on a few missions together, with Naruto of course. Tsunade didn't see a need to break the team up, or add anyone else; they all seemed to work great together.

"I know that Naruto is also a part of your team, however I can't allow him to go on this mission. I need him to keep training with Jiraiya. I'm sorry."

"We understand." Kakashi nodded.

"Good. Now I know that you are used to planning for missions on your own, however because of the importance of this mission, I have taken the time to plan it out."

"Sakura, you are going to travel to the Hidden Waterfall Village, there you will find work. What you do I don't care, however you are not able to use any Chakra, nothing to let others know that you are a ninja. You are to blend in, make friends; it's going to take time to gain the trust of the village." Sakura nodded, understanding what her role would be. If Tsunade didn't want anyone to know that the leaf village was looking into this, then she would die before she let that information get out.

"As for you Kakashi, you are going to stay here. Every few weeks you are going to go and check in on Sakura, make sure that there is nothing going on, and if she has any messages to send back to me, you will deliver it back to me. Other then that you are to keep up with your other missions, we can't allow anyone to find out that we are looking into this."

"Understood." Kakashi spoke, getting up from his chair and walking over to the window, he wouldn't use a door unless he had to.

"I'm giving you a year to complete this mission. Sakura, I know that this is going to be hard for you, but I need to know that you can handle this." Tsunade knew that she had been thought so much the last few years, the loss of Sasuke, the new training, and the long hard hours at the hospital.

"Lady Tsunade, you shouldn't have to ask. You have given me a mission and I'll complete it, whatever the cost."

Kakashi couldn't help but smile under his mask. Over the last few years she had grown up so fast, she knew what it meant to be a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. When he had found out that she would be studding under the Hokage herself, he couldn't believe it. He had taught her everything that he could, he had known that her chakra was different, knew it was one of a medic, and he didn't know the first thing about training one.

When she had ran up to him telling him that she was going to be taught be Lady Tsunade herself, he couldn't have been more overjoyed. He knew that she would surpass others, make a name for herself, and couldn't wait to see her in her prime.

And there she was in front of him, getting ready to take a mission that nether one of them knew much about.

"Very well, I want you to leave as soon as you can, Kakashi, you are allowed to travel with her as far as the border, and then you are to return. Is that understood?"

"Ya."

"I know that you can both handle it. This is going to go down in the books as a A-Rank mission, however you both are going to get paid for a S-Rank. Now get going, I don't want to waist any more time." With that said, she turned to some paper work that needed to be signed.

Seeing as how it was still so early, Sakura thought it would be best to go ahead and get the things she would need and head out. Seeing as how she wasn't able to let out her true identity, she didn't bother bring her weapons. She changed into some everyday clothing and packed a small back pack with some money and food.

"You almost ready?" Kakashi asked from the window.

"Just about." She looked over the items and closed the pack, lifting it and placing it over her back.

It didn't take them long to make it to the border and they had agreed to meet every two weeks in the marked place. He would come as a traveler, walk the village till he found her and then they would take it from there. They thought it best if they did it in the day light seeing as how they didn't know what would be going on once the sun went down.

Once she had made it to the village she had gotten a job working for one of the inns. She was to clean the rooms after the guests left. It took her a few days to get used to cleaning up the mess and taking the sheets off, some of them she just wanted to burn.

'I don't get how some men can have that many women at the same time.' She thought to herself as she cleaned.

She had thought it best not to jump right into asking people questions, but to take it nice and slow. It was clear to her that something was very wrong in this village though. She had gotten the first job she had asked about, and was told that 'Women like you should just go around these parts alone.' She didn't ask more on it; however the owner had told her that if she ever needed to go anywhere to get anything that his son was to go with her.

She thought that, with someone following her around would make her mission a little bit harder. However it seemed to work out. He was a young guy, just a little older then her, and he kept to himself and didn't mind going with her when she needed it. It was nice to have someone to talk to as well, thought she never got a full sentence out of him, a lot like Kakashi.

The fist meeting with Kakashi had gone very well, even with Jin following her. She had told Jin that she needed to go into town to grab some flowers to put in some of the rooms, to add some color. He had grabbed his sword and put it on his hip as he followed her out of the inn and down the road.

It wasn't hard to find Kakashi, even though he wasn't in is uniform, he still had his face covered, clamming that he had bad breath, if anyone asked. He had acted like he bumped into her, knocking her over.

"Oh I'm sorry miss I didn't see you there, I hope that your alright." He said as he held out his hand to help her up.

"You must not be from around here." Jin asked walking up to them.

"Oh, no I'm not I'm just passing thought." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Well no harm done." Sakura said, and letting Kakashi know that everything was just fine on her end.

"Again I'm sorry." And with that he continued on his way.

He was glad to know that she was doing well so far, however he didn't much like that the fact that she had someone following her everywhere. It was good and bad.

Good, in the way that if anything happened to her, she would have time to get out, let that guy fight.

Bad, in the way that he could be one of the rouge ninja that she was to gather info on. They way that he walked and carried himself was sign of a master… not just a young man trying to show off to the young pretty women.

It was a couple of months of the same thing, nothing really coming up. Until one night she overheard Jin and his father fighting about something. Sliding by the door she was able to hear that they where arguing about.

"You know that they are going to come within the next few nights." That was Jin; even though he was quit she knew his voice.

"I don't care! You are not going to fight them, they are to strong. And that one, his eyes… I don't trust them!"

"Father, do you hear yourself?! You are asking me to just set back and let him do what they want to this village. They said that they wouldn't hurt anyone if we gave them what they wanted. They came here seeking the scroll, and we sent them on a wild goose chase. It's a matter of time before they come back and kill everyone here, and they won't stop till they have it."

'Scroll? What scroll?' Sakura asked herself as she lost herself in thought she didn't hear the foot steps leading to the door, nor did she hear the door opening to see Jin and his father there.

"What did you hear?" Jin's father asked, pulling her inside and closing the door. "Do you work for them? Are you going to tell them what you have found out, that we lied to them!?" He asked walking around her. The worry clear in his voice.

"I'm sorry but I have no clue as to who you are talking about!" she said looking down. She knew she had to play her cards right, she couldn't lose her only chance to find out what was going on here.

"Father she isn't one of them, however she isn't just a poor girl that was looking for work ether. Who are you?" Jin asked, trying to calm his father down.

She had a choice to make, tell them the truth about whom she was, and why she was here. Or lie and she was a bad lire.

Taking a deep breath she stood up and looked to Jin and then his father. "Do I have your word that what I am about to tell you doesn't leave this room?" She asked them. They looked at each other then to her with a nod.

"My real name in Sakura Haruno, I'm from the Hidden Leaf Village. I was sent here to look into a group of rouge ninja, believed to be roaming in this area. No one is to know that I'm here."

Taking a deep breath, Jin looked to his father. "So the message did make it to the Hokage."

"Message, what message?" Sakura asked. Had Tsunade left something out?

"Yes you see the group that we have been having trouble with, is made up of S-class missing-nin."

"The Akatsuki?" 'But we aren't ready to fight them right now; I need to get this information back to Tsunade now.' Sakura thought, her mind running away with her.

"No it's not the Akatsuki. We don't know what they are called, they are led be a mad man, all he cares about is gaining power. Not caring about who he has to kill, or how many village he had to destroy to get what he wants. I have held Jin off from fighting him and going after them this long, however I believe that he is right, they are going to soon find out that they where lied to and when they come back, they aren't going to spare anything, or anyone."

"What are they looking for?" Maybe if she knew what they where after she could plan something out, she wished that Kakashi was here. He was far better at planning these kinds of things.

The look that was shared between them said all that she needed to know. Whatever it was, it was something that shouldn't be in the hands of a mad man.

"Come I'll show you." Following him out of the room they where in, they walking down a hall to the end. He moved a hand over a panel; a soft red glow outlined a sill, a very strong one. 'Who are these people?' She thought to herself as she was being led into a dark tunnel, they where going under ground.

"They are looking for the Earth Scroll. Who ever can read from it, well gain the power to control fire, wind, water, earth and anything else that is in the earth. It isn't something that can be moved either."

"Why?" She asked, however her answer was in front of her. What they had walked into was a camber, that was made into a make shift bed room. On the bed lay a small boy, his skin covered in a soft red glow.

"He was the son of the last to care for the safety of the scroll; there is no one else who can take his place. The power of the scroll knows this and has kept him alive this long. We where worried that if we tried to move him that it would kill him.

"You have been caring for him, even in his pain." She walked up to him and the glowing red hue darkened a little. She looked back to two men to see if they knew why it would do such a thing. The look told her that they had not a clue.

Binding down she looked over the boy to saw what his problem was. "It's killing him. The Scroll feeds off Chakra, the stronger the Chakra, the stronger the power, it's like it is trying to find a strong chakra to consume."

She wasn't able to think more on the matter as large explosion went off.

Present Time

She was almost there; she hadn't made it this far to be stopped now. Her feet bare, and the cold ground cutting into her, she made her way seeing a frozen lake ahead of her.

'Don't have time to go around.' She thought not slowing down. Braking thought the trees she began to slide on the ice. Trying to gain her balance, she didn't hear them behind her, didn't hear the Shurikens or the Kunai flying to meet there mark.

A loud scream pierced the air as on hit her shoulder, losing her footing she fell to the ground. She didn't have time to pull it out, and just as she was about to get back up she was hit once again, this time in her leg.

'This can't be happening, I'm so close. I won't give up!' pushing her pain away she began to crawl along the frozen water.

A pull on her leg got her to look to see that there was a rope tied to the end of the kunai knife, they where trying to pull her back.

Grabbing at the knife lodged in her leg, she knew that she had to pull it out or they would have her. With all the strength she had left she pulled it out and slammed it in the ice. Turning around she began to make her way to the other side.

'Almost there, just a little bit further.' she began to lose vision; she knew that she was losing too much blood. 'Kakashi, where are you when I need you?' Was her last thought as she felt her body drift into cold, dark nothingness.

Ok that's it for part one! Let me know what you think!!


	2. Chapter 2

Mission Recall

By DanniMarie

Side note: this is a Sakura/Kakashi fanfic. It's my first so please be kind.

I would like to say thank you to the following people…

haruko sohma

Mandalen

Rangerette

In True Meanings

Anbu10

equivalent exchange

Thank you all for letting me know what you thought of the first part, I hope that you like this one. It's for you!

Last chapter

'Almost there, just a little bit further.' she began to lose vision; she knew that she was losing too much blood. 'Kakashi, where are you when I need you?' Was her last thought as she felt her body drift into cold, dark nothingness.

Part 002

Bounding from one tree to the next, Kakashi thought back on his last mission. Lady Hokage had placed him on a team with Neji and Shikamaru to deliver a message to the Hidden Sand Village. It was good to fell the heat of the sun once again, the winter months where not to kind in the Hidden Leaf Village.

He also enjoyed working with the other two men; they seemed to have an understanding. Get the mission done, and get home, watch out for traps and look out for each other. They didn't need to talk much, being the men that they where they just knew what needed to be done.

The mission had been easy, and he couldn't wait to get home, knowing that it was time to check in on Sakura again this week. When he had given his report to Lady Tsunade on his last mission, he had included that he was going to be gone for a day or two, looking into the 'other' issue that she had assigned to him.

It had been six months and nothing had come of it so far, he was beginning to feel as though this was a waist of time. However he would be the first to tell anyone, that if you are given a long term mission, you complete it, no matter what the outcome.

Knowing that Sakura was getting homesick, being away for so long, without any news of what was going on back home. He wanted so badly to tell her about Naruto and how far he had gotten on his training in just a little time. He was quickly becoming a ninja to fear, though Kakashi knew that he would never be on the receiving end of his wraith.

As he got closer to the border the colder it seemed to get. If he planed it right, he could try and get a room at the inn that Sakura was working at, and that could open up a window for them to talk a little more.

Stopping on one of the branches he took the time to get his bearings. He knew that he was about to come up on the lake, that in this weather would be frozen, and he really didn't want to waist time going all the way around, when going straight over it would save him roughly two hours. Having made up his mind he jumped down from the tree and took to running on the forest floor.

He couldn't help but smile, it had been a long time since he was able to cross a frozen lake in order to save time, and he would have fun. Letting a small amount of chakra flow into his feet, he allowed himself to glide across the frozen waters.

How he missed being able to just let lose and have some fun, the only bad thing about sliding across a open lake like this was that you could be attacked much easer, that is if they could catch him. He wasn't in the BINGO books for nothing.

More then half was across; he stopped as something caught his eye.

Red, since when was a frozen lake red?

The answer was never, unless there was blood on it. Without a second thought he redirected his feet and took off, a sinking feeling taking over. He wasn't far from the village that Sakura was at, and if this was caused be those rouge ninja, they could be on there way to the village now.

Once he made it to the red ice, he saw that it had already frozen into the lake, meaning that it had been there for a few days, the sinking feeling tuning to one of dread. All fun aside, he pushed more chakra into his feet, moving him as if he was flying over the grounds.

It wasn't long before the smell of mold, and burned flesh met his noise. Even with his mask over his face it did nothing to hide the fowl smell of death. Finding the path that led to the village, letting it lead him into the nightmare that he was sure to see.

It was hard to tell that there was even once a village there. Everything was destroyed; it looked like the buildings had been burned down, however with the cold weather and the snow, the sign of fire was long gone.

The whole village was gone; he couldn't help but be on guard as he walked thought what remained of the once lively village. It wasn't a large village, only housing maybe forty families, the thought that one small group could do this and no one living thought it, no one getting away.

Without another thought he pulled off his glove and bit his thump. Soon after doing the needed hand signs Pukkun and a few others stood before him.

They didn't need to say anything, before they could even look around, their noise where assaulted with the fowl air. Looking to Kakashi to get their orders, they knew that this would be a recovery mission.

"Pukkun I need you to go back to Konoha and tell the Lady Hokage that the Village has been attacked and is destroyed. I need her to send a search and rescue team here at once. "

"Got it." And without having to be told anything else he took off.

Looking at the other dogs in front of him, he gave them their orders to search the whole village for any sign of life. They all took of, heading in different directions. He didn't know where to start, he walked over to where the inn should have been that Sakura was working at, however it was reduced to rubble, looking as if something had blown up right on top of it, indenting to destroy the whole building in one shot.

'Sakura where are you?' He thought to himself as he left the ashen sight to move onto the next. He would hear rubble moving and jump at the thought that it was someone trying to dig their way out, only to see one of the dogs walking around.

Binding down he picked up a kunai knife and looked it over, so it was a ninja attack. He wasn't able to think more on the thought of it, one of the dog's began to bark and by the sound of it, they others where running to see what had been found.

Dropping the kunai knife he took after the dogs, hoping that they had found some one alive. What met his eyes was something that no one could have prepared him to see.

In the middle of the village, there was a massive pile of bodies, children, and mothers, fathers, old and young. There was so much blood, and due to the cold weather, they had all frozen together. Letting it all sink in, he couldn't stop the tear that made its way to his eye.

More barking let him around the frozen massacre, into the back of the village, heading into more wooded areas. As he passed the trees he couldn't help but hope that there was nothing worse to come. All the years he had been a ninja he had never seen something like this before, and he hoped that he never had to again.

Moving into the heavy wooded area, he followed the dogs to a tree where there was a small man pined to it, hung there by two large kunai knifes, one piercing his shoulder and the other his lung. Moving slowly, he held the man's body and took the kunai's out, laying him down on the cold forest floor.

"Kakashi, you need to come see this, they may still be alive." One of the dogs said, turning and running to where he needed Kakashi to follow.

One he got there, he saw that the dogs had began to big, once he got closer he saw that there was some kind of trap door.

"We can smell them, there are people down there." One of them barked.

"How can you tell that they are alive?!" Kakashi asked as he took to the ground and began to move the dirt with his hands.

"We can smell their blood, it's still fresh." That was all he needed to say. It wasn't long till they had the door clear of the dirt and Kakashi wasted no time in opening it. The sight that met him, gave him a feeling of hope, within the hidden den, where roughly ten women with children.

"Please don't hurt us." One of them said holding her son closer to her.

"I'm not going to hurt you, it's ok to come out, and help is on its way." He moved to give them the room they needed to get out. The dogs had also backed up, not wishing to scare them more. Knowing that they where not only scared but cold as well, one of the dogs walked up to a young boy and cuddled to him, looking on, the other dogs took the hint and knew that hey would have to keep them warm till help got there.

Looking the group over he walked up to the oldest one, and ask her what had happened.

"They come out of the night, killing, blowing up everything they saw. We told them that we wouldn't give it up, not to them, no matter what. That's when they started to kill everyone. He wasn't happy, his eyes, so dark."

"Jin tried to hold them off, I saw him." Spoke up a small girl. "He and his father, there was a pretty lady with them too, the one that had been helping out around then inn."

'Sakura' Kakashi thought.

"Yeah, they told her to run, she didn't want to." Another said.

"The poor girl, she said that she had it, they followed her, but she didn't."

"Have what?" Kakashi asked, trying to find out what was it that they where after.

"The Earth Scroll." A small boy coughed as he made his way to Kakashi. Looking down to the boy, Kakashi could tell that there was something more to this boy. As if seeing what Kakashi was thinking, his skin began to glow a soft reddish.

"She didn't have the scroll, she couldn't, and they didn't know that. I don't know how, but she made me stronger, and she bought some time to get some of us to make it here, to be safe."

"Where is she now?" Kakashi asked, the fear edging into his voice.

No one said anything, they didn't know, how could they? They had been underground, safe, while she was out there, fighting for her life, and theirs. He should have been here to help her; she shouldn't have had to deal with all this on her own.

It wasn't to long till help got there, only a few hours, he had to give the S&R team credit, they knew that time was everything.

Once he knew that the villagers where in good hands he walked over to Pukkun. "No sign of Sakura yet?" The dog asked.

With a shake of his head he looked down, thinking. 'They said that she had run off trying to buy them time to hide and get away, where would she have run off to?' Thinking this over, then like a bucked of cold water he remembered the frozen blood on the lake. 'It was hers!' Without another thought, he took off to the lake again.

Pukkun following behind him, "Pukkun, search around the lake!" They took off in different directions, not wishing to waist time. Almost half way across one side of the lake, he heard Pukkun bark. Rushing over to his side, she saw the small pug sniffing the ground. "She came thought this way, there are many other scents here."

"Do you know any of them?" Kakashi asked.

"There is something about them, I've sniffed there scents before." Looking up to his summoning master, "This way." And he took off.

It took them a while, and every minute it took, he longed that he would find hope, and not fear, dread.

They cleared some trees and there before them was Sakura bound to a large tree. Her arms here tried above her head and her clothing was torn and shredded. He didn't what to think of what she had gone thought, what they had done to her.

Reaching her, he took out a kunai knife to cut her down, letting her weight fall into his body. Looking her over it was clear that she had been beaten, and possibly raped. She skin was pale and bruised, letting him know that she had broken bones, and that she was very close to the edge.

"Sakura," He said slowly, softly. He needed her to know that she was safe, "Sakura, you need to open your eyes."

Nothing.

"Sakura, don't think you can die on me, I haven't lost a partner in ten years, and I'm not going to start, now open your eyes." He said raising his voice a little.

Nothing

Pukkun sat back and watch as Kakashi held the young shinobi in his arms. It wasn't like Kakashi to get this worked up over a team member. He knew just as the next that it was part of the job, to lose a team member, it wasn't unheard of.

"Sakura, wake up."

Looking on, it hit him, this women, Sakura, was more then just a team member, however he felt that not even Kakashi knew of his true feelings.

Walking up to the two, Pukkun did only what he knew to do at a time like this, he licked her.

It wasn't long, till she began to shake from the cold and that was a good thing. It was the bodies' way of trying to warm up. Lifting her into his arms he took off to the village to get one of the medics to look at her.

'Hold on Sakura.'

Ok, that's it for this part hope you all liked it. Let mow know what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

Mission Recall

By DanniMarie

Side note: this is a Sakura/Kakashi fanfic. It's my first so please be kind.

Thank you all for letting me know what you thought of the first two parts, I hope that you like this one.

Last chapter

Walking up to the two, Pukkun did only what he knew to do at a time like this, he licked her.

It wasn't long, till she began to shake from the cold and that was a good thing. It was the bodies' way of trying to warm up. Lifting her into his arms he took off to the village to get one of the medics to look at her.

'Hold on Sakura.'

Part 003

Cold…

Frozen…

Nothingness…

'So dark, so cold.' Sakura was lost to the real world as she was being dragged across the ice, unknown to her.

She had given into the darkness that was calling to her as she was trying to get away from the village. The two kunai knifes that hit her didn't help that fact that she was already weak, from giving most of her chakra to the boy, in order to give them time to get him out and to a safe place.

Jin had been against the whole plan, however she didn't really have time to fight with him, she just did it, and he would have to follow her lead.

When the explosion had gone off, she didn't even have time to think about other options. Without a word, she had placed her hands on the boy and had relisted over half of her chakra into his small frame. She didn't have time to think about her actions. As soon as she was done, she had told Jin's father to stay with the boy and to wait till they where gone, then to run, finding as many others they could and hide.

Nodding that he understood, Jin's father took the boy and hid, till it was clear. Sakura had made her way though the rubble, Jin close behind her. When they made it back to the Inn everything had been flatten due to the explosion.

"We need to drawl them away from the village. Do they know what the scroll looks like?" She asked turning to Jin.

"No, we have not disclosed that information to them."

Looking around she bent down and picked up a fallen scroll. "This will have to work." Then she turned to Jin, "I need you to make sure that the others get out, I'm going to get them away long enough for you to do the best you can."

"I understand."

That was the last she heard or seen Jin. When she had located those responsible, all the blood rushed to her heart, her face paling, and her mind racing.

"Kabuto…" The name no more then a whisper on her lips, still loud enough to gain the attention of those destroying the village.

Seeing the scroll in her hand, Kabuto assumed it was the scroll that they had been after, just as she had planed. Before they had a chance to speak, she took off running though the woods, the sound of their feet rushing after her was all it took to put a smile on her face, her plan was working.

'Who needs Kakashi to plan!?' She thought running as fast as she could on half of her chakra.

Before she could left her foot for another jump, she lost her balance dropping the scroll as she tripped, quickly she gathered her footing however it was to late, they had reached her.

Kabuto picked up the scroll and opened it, his face burning red with anger as he look to see a blank scroll.

"Where is it?" He asked the anger clearly in his voice.

"I don't know what you talking about." She spoke back, trying to buy all the time she could. Her mission was already blown. Kabuto knew who she was, and it wasn't a secret who he was and who he worked for.

"Don't play dumb with me, Sakura."

The tone in witch he said her name sent a shiver down her back, something wasn't right. She knew that playing this game wasn't the wisest thing to do, however time was something she had to give the villagers. She wouldn't allow them to suffer for the evil, dark desirers of Orochimaru.

"Why dose Orochimaru want the scroll?" A bold question to ask.

"What makes you think it's for him?"

Before she had time to allow the thought to process, Kabuto attacked. Her mind didn't have time but to think about the way she was going to get out of this alive. Knowing that Kabuto was also a medic-ninja, and that he worked with the snake Sannin, meant that it was more then likely that he knew the forbidden jutsus, something that she wasn't ready to deal with.

'Where are the smoke bombs when I need them?!' She thought, then looking down she grabbed a hand full of dirt, mixing some of her chakra with it, and she had a filed made smoke bomb. Throwing it, she didn't waist any time in running.

'Just a little further, I have to make it.'

The cold winter air burned in her lungs as she ran, not needing to turn around to know that they where still after her, pain not slowing them down as it was her.

As she was running she felt a pain in her ankle, jumping into a tree far above the ground she looked down and saw that her boots where glowing.

'A tracking seal?!' Knowing that she needed to lose them as soon as she could, pulling her boots off, she began to run again, headed for the frozen lake.

She was almost there; she hadn't made it this far to be stopped now. Her feet bare, and the cold ground cutting into her, she made her way seeing a frozen lake ahead of her.

'Don't have time to go around.' She thought not slowing down. Braking thought the trees she began to slide on the ice. Trying to gain her balance, she didn't hear them behind her, didn't hear the Shurikens or the Kunai flying to meet there mark.

A loud scream pierced the air as on hit her shoulder, losing her footing she fell to the ground. She didn't have time to pull it out, and just as she was about to get back up she was hit once again, this time in her leg.

'This can't be happening, I'm so close. I won't give up!' pushing her pain away she began to crawl along the frozen water.

A pull on her leg got her to look to see that there was a rope tied to the end of the kunai knife, they where trying to pull her back.

Grabbing at the knife lodged in her leg, she knew that she had to pull it out or they would have her. With all the strength she had left she pulled it out and slammed it in the ice. Turning around she began to make her way to the other side.

'Almost there, just a little bit further.' she began to lose vision; she knew that she was losing too much blood. 'Kakashi, where are you when I need you?' Was her last thought as she felt her body drift into cold, dark nothingness.

Cold…

Frozen…

Nothingness…

'So dark, so cold.' Sakura was lost to the real world as she was being dragged across the ice, unknown to her.

She had given into the darkness that was calling to her as she was trying to get away from the village. The two kunai knifes that hit her didn't help that fact that she was already weak, from giving most of her chakra to the boy, in order to give them time to get him out and to a safe place.

"Thought that you could get away? You know where the scroll is and you're going to tell me, one way or another."

She felt her body being picked up and tossed over someone shoulder. She didn't know how far they had taken her, blacking in and out as they carried her, the cold hard ground coming up to meet her as she was thrown down.

Bending down Kabuto slapped her across the face. "Wake up kunoichi! The fun is about to begin."

'Why I'm not going to tell you anything anyway.' She thought.

"Tie her up."

The felling of hands roughly picking her up and pushing her into a large tree, someone holding her arms up, and something being tied around her body, securing her in place.

'Not good.' She thought, still in between being alert and passing out. As long as they where with her, they would leave the village alone.

Walking up to her, Kabuto lifted his hand and touched her face, softer then she would have liked.

"Its going to be a sham to mess this beautiful face up, Sasuke wont like me too much if he found out I had to ruff you up a little."

'Sasuke! What does he have to do with this?!' Willing herself to look up, into the eyes of the man in front of her.

"You know," He said walking to the side a little. "He was much stronger then Orochimaru, they fought a couple of times, Orochimaru always winning. Then they day came, the day that Orochimaru would take over the Uchiha body, but you know a very funning thing happened."

"Sasuke was to stubborn, he wasn't going to allow Lord Orochimaru to take over his body, but he still had the desire to be strong, better then his brother."

Leaning in he whispered into her ear. "He took over Orochimaru, took all his knowledge, all his power, all his dark desire."

The sharp intake in breath told him that she had heard every bit of what he had said.

"He said that he was going to kill us, if he ever saw any of our faces again, and if he heard anything about Konoha being attacked, that he would hunt us down and kill us. I don't know about you, but I plan on living for some time. And that scroll is going to give me what I need to free Lord Orochimaru."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sasuke was still alive, and not only that but strong. He had beaten Orochimaru, and had protected the Hidden Leaf Village at the same time. He hadn't betrayed the village, but he hadn't come back either.

Itachi Uchiha

Sasuke must still be looking for his brother, to avenge his family, fulfill the promise that he had made to her.

Flash Back

"Once I have destroyed my brother I'll return to the village and face whatever the Hokage throws at me."

End Flash Back

Her thoughts where stopped as a hard slap made its way across her face.

"Tell me where it is!"

Anger.

He was getting angry and that wasn't good.

"No" It was all she could say.

"Then I hope that you have a high level of pain tolerance." That was the last thing she heard before she felt her body being assaulted by fists.

A punch to the ribs, feeling it breaking under the force, she tried to not scream out in pain. She wouldn't give them the satisfactory of hearing her cry out in pain.

She didn't know how long they had abused her body, few minutes, hours, days, it was all the same.

Hearing a frustrated sigh, she hopped that it was over. "You aren't going to tell me anything, are you?" Kabuto asked walking to her.

"Never." She managed to cough out, winded from the beating.

Turning around to the others he gave them the command to head back to the village, to find the scroll.

Looking up she tried to think of anything that she could say to him to spare the village.

"Stop! Please leave them alone, don't hurt them!"

It was the best she could think of at the time. Turning around he looked at her, walking back, allowing his men to go ahead of him.

"And what are you offering if I leave the villagers alone?" He asked leaning in.

'What do I do?!' Her mind screamed.

Leaning in Kabuto lifted his hand to her chest. Without any warring he took her mouth roughly, grabbing her breast, insuring bruising. He pulled away quickly, holding his bitten lip and slapping her hard across the face.

"Bitch! I hope you hear them scream. Mothers crying as they watch me burn their children, men begging me to spear their families, and children crying as I pull them away from their mother's dead lifeless body. All because you wouldn't disclose information that I asked for nicely. It's your fault, Sakura, you could have stopped it, you could have saved them. Now they are all going to die."

"No!"

Turning, he walked away, letting her scream.

"Come back here you basterd!"

Gone, she had lost him in the thick of the woods, her throat burning from screaming at him.

"Kabuto! Don't hurt them!" She yelled into the cold winter air. 'Please don't hurt them.' She begged, as darkness began to take over.

She knew that it was very likely that she would die out here. Her body was losing to much blood, she didn't have any chakra to heal herself, let alone break free. The night was coming fast and the cold that would come with the setting sun was bad enough for any shinobi in good health.

'Some one, help them, please don't let them all die because of me.'

She was drifting off, giving up and letting go, knowing that she didn't have the strength to hold on.

_"It's your fault, Sakura, you could have stopped it, __and you__ could have saved them. Now they are all going to_ die."

That words the last she would hear. The guilt taking over, crushing her, she let the darkness in, not stopping it.

Off in the distance screams filled the air, along with a dark, cold laugh.

End of Part 003

Hope you liked it. Let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

Mission Recall

By DanniMarie

Side note: this is a Sakura/Kakashi fanfic. It's my first so please be kind. Also, just so that you know the ages, Sakura is around 22 and Kakashi is about 30.

I would also like to thank those of you who have read and reviewed, it really means a lot to me to know that you enjoy reading what is floating around my head. Hope that you all like this next chapter.

Last Chapter

_"It's your fault, Sakura, you could have stopped it, and you could have saved them. Now they are all going to_ _die." _

Those words where the last she would hear. The guilt taking over, crushing her, she let the darkness in, not stopping it.

Off in the distance screams filled the air, along with a dark, cold laugh.

Part 004

Running though the wood, Kakashi leapt lightly on his feet, not wanting to cause any more unneeded pain to the women in his arms.

Pukkun, running as fast as his legs could carry him, kept up with Kakashi, not knowing what to expect from the wise shinobi. Never had he seen Kakashi this worried over a team member, he always kept his cool, never to let others see into his feeling, his weakness.

Feelings, that's what he saw in his eye, and he knew that if he hadn't been wearing his mask, that he would have seen much more.

Reaching the search and rescue team he saw that Ino and Kiba where among the ranks. "Ino" He said with a rather stern voice, loud enough to get her attention, but not a yell.

Standing up and turning around to see who had called her, Ino took a sharp breath. "Sakura!" Running over, she bent down as Kakashi did, to allow the blond to look over his partner.

"What was she doing out here!" She asked, looking to Kakashi with demand in her eyes.

"She was assigned to this village a few months ago, on a top A-Rank mission." He replayed.

"Alone! What was Lady Tsunade thinking?" Looking over her long time friend she couldn't hide the grim expression on her face. The Hokage had never assigned an A-Rank mission to one shinobi alone.

"This doesn't look good." She lifted her hand and allowed a cool green glow to take over and swept though the young, beaten women's body.

Kakashi allowed Ino to look Sakura over as he still held her in his arms, and watched on as she pushed some chakra into her body. Wanting so badly to ask what she was finding and how bad it was. He hadn't felt as much dread like this in so long, not since his young Genin team, and Rin.

"KIBA!" Ino yelled as the glow from her hands dimed.

It didn't take long before the young man and his dog came jog over, knowing that something must be wrong the way Ino yelled. As he got closer he saw the pink bundle in Kakashi's arms and took off in a full run, to close the space in between them.

"What happened?!" He asked looking around between the two. 'What is Sakura doing all the way out here and what happened to her.' The thoughts where running through his mind, however he knew that now wasn't the time to ask.

"Kiba, I need to know if they are ready to move out. We have to get them back to Konoha as soon as we can."

"Yeah just a few bumps and bruises, few cuts nothing that's going to kill them, however if we don't get them out of this cold weather, we may have a problem."

Looking back over to Kakashi, she tried to find the best way to tell him what needed to be done. "Kakashi, We have to get these people somewhere warm, and …" Looking down to Sakura she took a deep breath. "… Kakashi, there is too much damage to heal, I can't do it all myself. We need to get her to Tsunade, the sooner the better. To tell you the truth I can't believe she is still alive. She has three broken ribs, one of then cutting into her right lung. Both of her arms are dislocated, and her right leg is broken. That's only what is broken, that I can tell of. The hard thing is going to get her back, without causing any more damage. One wrong move and we could cause permanent damage."

Thinking for a minute, she looked over to one of the other medics that came with the team. "Suki! Do you still have the stretcher!?" She yelled getting up.

A young women ran over and pulled out some metal polls and started to build a stretcher. After it was complete, Ino walked over and picked up some blankets and laid them down on the stretcher. She knew that it wasn't the softest thing in the world; Sakura had been though so much and she didn't want to cause her any more pain.

"Kakashi, place her on the stretcher, you and Kiba are both going to have to carry her, you must be carful, and do _not_ drop her."

He didn't have to be told that, there was nothing that would make him drop her. Without saying anything he stood, Sakura still in his arms, and walked over to the stretcher on the ground, placing her within the blankets, wrapping her up, making sure that the cold wouldn't have a chance to get to her.

It didn't take long for the others to gather what they could and head out. Kiba had picked up the front, carrying the stretcher behind him, so that he would see where he was walking. That left Kakashi to pick up the back; lifting together they followed the others.

Looking down he couldn't help but feel as if he could have done more. 'It's my fault. I should have checked in on her more, I should have trained her better when I had the time. She wasn't ready for this; she shouldn't have suffered like she did.' He thought as he looked onto her face. It was then that he saw her, not as a student, but as a strong woman that had made her life on of a shinobi. 'Someone so beautiful should never have to fight and see the horrors of war. It's those like her, that men like me fight. To protect them, so that they can live without a worry.'

'What have I done?' He asked himself.

End of Part 004

I know it was short, sorry, but let me know what you think and I'll try and get the next part out with in the next few days…. And don't worry it's doing to be longer.


	5. Chapter 5

Mission Recall

By DanniMarie

Side note: this is a Sakura/Kakashi fanfic. It's my first so please be kind. Also, just so that you know the ages, Sakura is around 22 and Kakashi is about 30.

I would also like to thank those of you who have read and reviewed, it really means a lot to me to know that you enjoy reading what is floating around my head. Hope that you all like this next chapter.

Last chapter…

Looking down he couldn't help but feel as if he could have done more. 'It's my fault. I should have checked in on her more, I should have trained her better when I had the time. She wasn't ready for this; she shouldn't have suffered like she did.' He thought as he looked onto her face. It was then that he saw her, not as a student, but as a strong woman that had made her life on of a shinobi. 'Someone so beautiful should never have to fight and see the horrors of war. It's those like her, that men like me fight. To protect them, so that they can live without a worry.'

'What have I done?' He asked himself.

Part 005

It was getting later in the night, and they still had more then two day to walk in front of them. Normal shinobi would be a little more then half way there, however this group was anything but normal, and not all of them where shinobi.

Walking behind the rest of the group, carrying the stretcher with the help of Kiba, Kakashi could see how many people there where.

There where ten beaten and battered villages, that where doing there best to keep walking, even in the dead of night, four of them young children, one being they boy who had the seal. He didn't know what would happen to them once they got to the village, seeing as how they where from another all together. Surly the Hokage would sent word that they had been rescued and where safe within the Leaf Village walls.

Walking in front was Ino, making sure to set a pace that all could meet. She knew that there was a chance that whoever did this could still be around, and they where in no shape to fight, and protect.

On the left side, hidden from view, where two Special Jounins, who he had never had the chance to meet, and on the right, where Izumo and Kotetsu. He was thankful to know that they where here, they where good and defense and he knew that if anything did happen, they would fight to their death to give the others a chance to get away.

He hoped that, for the sake of those evil men, that they didn't attack. He wasn't one to just rush into anything, but he knew that in the state he was in, he would kill them all without a second thought.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Akamaru, looking up and barking. Kiba turned to see what had gotten him so worked up, signaling to Kakashi to lower Sakura.

Hearing the barking, Ino turned around to see the men lowering Sakura and thought it best to stop and find out what was going on.

"Is everything alright?" She asked as she walked over and bent down to check on Sakura. Nothing had changed, however what worried her was that her chakra wasn't returning to her. 'Something more must be wrong, but I won't know till I get her back to Lady Tsunade.' Looking over to Kakashi she saw something that told her that she had better keep this quit for now, no need to worry him more if it was nothing.

Kiba walked over to Akamaru as if to ask what had gotten into him. A soft growl was all he got, followed by a sniff in the air. Kiba took this hint and took a sniff of his own, and then it hit him. There was a rather strong storm coming their way, and if they didn't find somewhere to wait it out, they would all be in trouble.

"We need to find a cave, or something. There is a bad weather front moving in fast, it should be here with in the next half an hour." Quieting his voice so that only Ino, Kakashi, and he could hear. "They won't be able to make it, unless we get them somewhere to wait the storm out."

Thinking the news over she thought of what they would do, however Kakashi wasn't wasting any time. Turning he saw his long time friend that was still with them, following close behind him. "Pukkun, did you recall seeing any caves on the way to and from Konoha?"

Thinking, the little dog sat down. "I think that I saw something. It was just a little farther up, on the east side."

"Suki, Hoku!" Ino called out to the two Jounins that he hadn't met. "Go on ahead with Pukkun here and try to find the caves that he saw, we'll be following behind. There is a weather font moving in and we need to get these people out of it. We don't have any time to waste."

"Yes ma'am." With that they took off, Pukkun leading them.

Kiba walked back over to Sakura and looked over to Kakashi. "If we keep our balance, we may be able to pick up the pace a little." A nod from Kakashi was all he needed and they both bent down to pick her up.

"Alright then." Ino said as she walked back to the others. She wasn't going to tell them everything; they had over herd that there was a storm coming, and knew that they had to push the pace up as well.

It hadn't been far, till they reached the cave, Suki and Hoku had already set two fires within the cave to warm it up. The burning glow of the fire set shadows on the walls of the cave. It was a rather large cave, room for all and them some. Pukkun had done good, very good.

Once they had entered the cave, Kiba and Kakashi walked to the back of it to set Sakura down. Once she was set down, Kakashi set out to build a fire close to her, he wasn't about to let anything more happen to her, she should have been safe and sound at home, laying in she nice soft, warm bed. However she was stuck out side, in a winter storm, after getting beaten.

After Ino had made sure that every one was settled in and warm, she told the others to pull out the food that they had and pass it around.

Pulling out a canteen, she walked over to Kakashi and bend down, he had been setting next to Sakura like a guard dog.

"Here, we should try and get some water into her. Set it close to the fire to warm it up. I'll come back in a minute."

Taking the water he did just as she had said, setting it close to the fire, but not to close. Ino came back with a small towel.

Picking up the canteen, she looked at Kakashi. "I need you to lift her up just a little so that we can get this down her throat."

Nodding, he moved over and placed his arm under her head. The feeling of her cold skin was something that he wasn't prepared for. He had thought that she would have warmed up a little, but he had been wrong. Lifting her up, Ino was able to part Sakura's lips and pour some water into her mouth.

What they where hopping for was for her to drink the water down, to get some fluids into her, to warm her up. However what they got wasn't that.

Coughing shook her body as the water began to leaking out of her mouth, the water discolored by blood.

Kakashi looked up to Ino to see what to do, he wasn't good at the whole healing thing, but he knew that blood wasn't suppose to come from you mouth when you drink water.

"Kakashi, lean her over!" She said quickly.

Kakashi did as he was told allowing her to cough up the rest of the bloody water. Taking the towel that she had with her, she wiped Sakura's lips and chin. She couldn't look at Kakashi; she knew that he would see right though her, and she wasn't ready to deal with a pissed off Kakashi.

Looking at her, he knew that she was keeping something from him. "Ino." He asked, she still wouldn't look at him. "Ino, what is wrong with her?" He asked. His voice help so much she couldn't help turn her eyes to him. She could hear it in his voice, losing her was not an option.

Thinking on what to tell him, she knew that with Kakashi it was always best to be up front. "We shouldn't have tried to move her. There are too many injures, to much damage done to her body. I don't know why, but her chakra isn't replenishing as it should."

"What are you saying?" He asked, looking her right in the eye.

"I don't think she's going to make it." There she said it. The look in his eyes tore though her. She could feel the hurt and pain. "Only Tsunade would have a chance of healing her, and we still to far out. I'm sorry."

"She isn't going to die."

Before she had the time to say anything, he was up and walking to the mouth of the cave. "Pukkun, stay with Sakura."

"Yes Kakashi!" He said as he walked over to girl and curled up next to her.

"Kakashi where do you think your going?!" Ino said as she stood up walking behind him. Kiba watched as everything unfolded.

"I won't let her die." He said, taking one last look to Sakura, he took off so fast no one would have a chance to stop him.

'Hold on Sakura, please just hold on.'

Ino looked back to the cave and saw the other faces looking at her.

"Is the pretty lady going to be ok?" One of the little girls asked as she was being held in her mother's arms.

Kiba couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, if he has anything to say about it." He said, looking out into the woods, just as the first snow began to fall.

Jumping from branch to branch, Kakashi didn't even feel the cold snow begin to fall, he felt nothing, except the urgency to get to Tsunade. If they couldn't get Sakura to her, he would just have to bring Lady Tsunade to Sakura.

'I'm not going to lose you Sakura.'

End of Part 005

Hope that you all liked it. I'll be working on getting the next chapter out as soon as I can.


	6. Chapter 6

Mission Recall

By DanniMarie

Side note: this is a Sakura/Kakashi fanfic. It's my first so please be kind. Also, just so that you know the ages, Sakura is around 22 and Kakashi is about 30.

I would also like to thank those of you who have read and reviewed, it really means a lot to me to know that you enjoy reading what is floating around my head. Hope that you all like this next chapter.

anbu10: I hope that this was fast enough for you.

Last chapter…

Jumping from branch to branch, Kakashi didn't even feel the cold snow begin to fall, he felt nothing, except the urgency to get to Tsunade. If they couldn't get Sakura to her, he would just have to bring Lady Tsunade to Sakura.

'I'm not going to lose you Sakura.'

Part 006

Lady Tsunade couldn't help but pace around her office. It had been a little over twenty four hours, and still no news.

She had been working on some paper work when Pukkun had appeared in her office, requesting a search and recue team. She had asked him what had happened, what was going on, but he was unable to tell her anything. At the time, he didn't know anything. Kakashi had asked him to get a search and recue team, and that's what he was going to do.

She had sent Ino and Kida, knowing that they would be the best. She didn't know how bad it was, but she knew that once Kakashi and Sakura got back, she would find out.

Feeling the affects of not eating or sleeping for the last twenty four hours had gotten to her. Walking to her desk she flopped down in her chair.

Her eyes began to weight heavy as her thoughts began to blend together. 'Just a small nap, then I'll get back to work.'

How funny life was, just as she was about to fall into a deep sleep she heard her office window open. Looking over, her heart stopped.

"Kakashi! Your back, is every…." However she wasn't able to finish.

"Sakura is going to die if you don't come with me now." That voice sent a chill down her spine.

"What, what happened?" She asked standing up.

"I don't know. Lady with all due respect, if you don't come with me right now, I'll carry you there myself. She doesn't have time." Kakashi couldn't waste time talking; she was out there in this storm, dying.

"Shizune!" She yelled, not caring what time it was.

The office door opened quickly to show a rather frazzled Shizune. Seeing Kakashi, and the look and concern in his eye told her something was very wrong.

"Sakura is in trouble, I have to go, tell the counsel that the meetings will have to wait till I get back." Tsunade said as she grabbed some things that she knew she would need.

"When well that be? Lady Hokage you can't just leave like this!" She said walking in and shutting the door. She looked from Tsunade over to Kakashi, and if looks could kill, she would be in her grave. She had never seen him act like this before.

How could they be talking about the counsel at a time like this! Without really thinking things though, he took a hold of the Kage and jumped out the window, making sure that she had the things she needed with her.

"Kakashi, I understand that you fear for her life, but you have to let me go." At this, he stopped and turned around, still holding on to her.

"If anything happens to her, if she dies, you'll see a side of me that not even my strongest opponent has seen."

Understanding in full what was going on, she knew that he was telling the truth. Kakashi was someone to fear if he was angry, and right now, she knew that it had crossed that line a long time ago.

Without another word he let her go and took off, allowing her to follow. As she followed she couldn't help but wonder what had gotten into the young Shinobi. 'I knew that she cared for Sakura, but could it be more?' She thought.

It was well known that Kakashi cared about his team. He saw Naruto as a brother he never had, but how did he see Sakura? She thought that it was a brother/sister relationship, had she been wrong? She would have to talk to him about it later, it law that shinobi not fraternize with their team members, however she knew that it did happen. She would have thought better of Kakashi.

After about five hours of going none stop they reached a cave, the soft glow welcoming them into the warmth.

"Kakashi…" Ino said as he walked in, followed by Tsunade.

"Lady Hokage!" She said bowing, however it seemed as if they didn't even see or hear her. They walked right by her over to the bundle of blankets.

Lifting the blankets up, Tsunade looked over Sakura. "Ino, I'm going to need your help."

"Yes ma'am."

Kiba put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, letting him know that it wasn't up to him anymore.

Taking a deep breath, Tsunade prepared herself for the work ahead of her. Pulling her chakra into her hands she laid them over her student.

Kakashi just looked on as the warm green glow took over and flowed into her small frame.

Brocken bones, torn mussels, stress, fear, regret, loneliness, she felt it all. It wasn't her body that needed to be healed; it was her mind, her heart.

She first healed the torn mussels, getting her lungs to work properly, her heart pumping slowly, evenly. Then she moved onto her infections, and open wounds. As she was healing her, she couldn't help but feel like something was off, something more was wrong, she just couldn't find it. Pulling her chakra back, she opened her eye's that she didn't even know she had closed.

"She's stable."

Relief swept over Kakashi. He knew that there was more to be done, she had been on her death bed, but knowing that she was out of the danger zone was good for him.

"There is still a lot still to do, however I need her in the hospital. Kakashi, I'm going to need you to carry her back to the village, she's ok to move, however you must be gentle with her. Her leg and arms are still broken."

She watched on as he walked over and bent over and placed his arms under her, lifting her up smoothly and gracefully. Rapping blankets around her to make sure she stayed warm. Without looking at the others, he walked out of the cave and took to the path to get home.

Looking down he couldn't help but feel the life come back to him. "We're going home Sakura." He whispered in her ear. He knew that she probably couldn't hear him, but he needed her to know that he was there and that he was taking her home.

"Kakashi…"

Stopping, he looked down; his mind had to be playing with him.

"Sakura?"

"…I'm sorry…" It wasn't more then a whisper. "… it's all my fault…" She coughed. "…I could have saved them, could have fought them, but I didn't."

"Sakura, it's not your fault." He said trying to calm her down.

"I could have, but the mission, she told me not to."

Kakashi felt his heart stop. She hadn't fought back because Tsunade told her not to. She almost died because she was on a mission and was told not to use any chakra. She had followed the mission orders without fault, and it had almost cost her, her life.

"… So cold…"

"Shh, I'm going to get you home, and safe." He said in a tone he didn't even know he had.

"Kakashi, thank you." Before he could ask for what, she was out again.

He didn't know if he should feel proud or anger. Proud for her fallowing the mission plan, proud of her for her not giving up.

Or anger for Tsunade sending her on this mission alone, not allowing them work as a team. Sakura, Naruto, and himself.

Naruto! What was he going to do when he found out what had happened to her. It was know by any shinobi that the young man loved her, thought it was unclear as how she felt about him.

He would have to talk everything over with him once he knew that she was ok. Holding her closer, he took to the air once again as he jumped from branch to branch. He only hoped that Tsunade would be right behind him, he didn't want to have to go back and get her, again.

End Part 006

Hope you all liked it.

Let me know what you think…. It may be a while till I get the next part out, I'm planning on getting married, and moving in the next two weeks, however If I get a lot of reviews I may just get out another one.


	7. Chapter 7

Mission Recall

By DanniMarie

Side note: this is a Sakura/Kakashi fanfic. It's my first so please be kind. Also, just so that you know the ages, Sakura is around 22 and Kakashi is about 30.

I would also like to thank those of you who have read and reviewed, it really means a lot to me to know that you enjoy reading what is floating around my head. Hope that you all like this next chapter.

Last time…

Naruto! What was he going to do when he found out what had happened to her. It was know by any shinobi that the young man loved her, thought it was unclear as how she felt about him.

He would have to talk everything over with him once he knew that she was ok. Holding her closer, he took to the air once again as he jumped from branch to branch. He only hoped that Tsunade would be right behind him, he didn't want to have to go back and get her, again.

Part 007

Waiting…

Waiting…

… And more waiting…

Looking around, Kakashi didn't know if he could wait any longer. He had arrived in the village, Sakura safely in his arms, and headed right for the hospital. He knew that they would be able to care for her untill Lady Tsunade got back. It wasn't long after that she ran though the halls, and into Sakura's room, and that had been over five hours ago.

Other medics had come and gone, carrying dirty, bloody sheets, clothing, and other items. Once again he felt useless, he was told to just wait, told that there was nothing more that he could do.

So he waited…

And waited…

As he sat on the floor, right outside her room, he thought back on the last few months. Ha had been sent on missions all over, some of them farther away then he would have like, he needed to be able to get to Sakura to gather the information if there was any.

Was it his desire to do the best on his mission, or was it that he didn't like the fact that she was alone, with no one to help her if things turned bad.

'Sakura'

He would be the first to admit that something was different when it came to her. She wasn't just his former student, and present partner.

He had wished that he did things differently back then, taken the time to work with her more.

Kakashi knew that he should have trained her more then he did, should have tried to make her see the truth about becoming a ninja. However he was young, and really didn't even what to train a Genin team. When he was told it was to be taken as a mission, and that he would be training Sasuke Uchiha, along with Naruto Uzumaki, he was honored. To be able to train and teach, what could be the two strongest shinobi was something that he wasn't willing to throw away.

'But I screwed up.' Kakashi thought. He had also thought that in training Sasuke he would learn more about the Sharingan, the limits it had. Even though he had one of his own, he still didn't know everything about it, didn't know how to use it to it's limit.

He knew that after the first time meeting the team, that Sasuke and Naruto had what it took to be Shinobi, Sakura joined to be close to Sasuke, she didn't fully know what she was getting into. She tried to keep up with them, as a team, but she wasn't as strong as the others. He should have seen it then, but he couldn't be bothered with it.

So he spent more time with the two who he thought would last.

'I should have trained her more, she was my reasonably. And I let her down. I should have seen what a great shinobi she would make.'

'I should have known that there was more to her then just a little girl crushing on the Uchiha.'

After she was taught under the Hokage, she grew into her own. It was clear to him then that she was a medic ninja and that was her true calling, to heal people not to kill them. She should have been moved off the Shinobi roster and put on the Search and Recue roster, out of harms way.

She wouldn't have been aloud to go on any missions, 'Not even with me.' He thought, and something pulled at his heart. He didn't know why, but he enjoyed going on missions with her, she was always worried about him and the others on the team, never herself.

'A true medic.' He thought with a sad smile.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a loud voice shouting in the hall.

"Where is Sakura Haruno's room?"

Pulling himself off the floor, he walked over to the young blond and but his hand on his shoulder. "Naruto, this is a hospital, don't yell."

"Kakashi, Is she ok?! We where on our way back when we ran into Ino and Kiba escorting some people to the village, they told me that there was an attack, and that Sakura was hurt."

Kakashi couldn't help but see the concern in his eyes. Naruto had grown so much over the last few years, meting his height and build.

"Tsunade is in with her now." What more was he going to say, that he had found her near death, and it was entirely his fault.

In the Hospital room

Tsunade sat in the chair looking at the women in the bed. She had done all she could for her, it was now up to Sakura to help herself.

She didn't know what to tell those that waited out in the hall, how she was going to tell them that things where going to be rough for the woman for the next year or two.

As she has been healing her, she had come across a seal that had been placed within her very heart. There was no way that she could remove it in fear that she would die. It was a time seal, so with time, it would weaken and at some point dissolve altogether.

It was a forbidden seal, one only Orochimaru and his men would know.

The seal was blocking her own chakra, she wouldn't be able to use it, and when she did, she would have to relearn how to. She would have to be taken off the roster, and put on the recovery roster.

A knock on the door, brought her out of her thoughts. "Come in." She said, her voice rough due to the stress.

Shizune walked in, closing the door behind her. "Lady Tsunade, Kakashi and Naruto are out in the hall, waiting to hear about Sakura, what should I tell them?"

"You can let them in; I should be the one to tell them anyway." She said getting up and checking on Sakura.

Turning around she opened the door and called to the two men waiting in the hall, they where in the room within seconds.

Naruto stopped as he saw the pale face of his friend laying there in the bed. "Sakura, what happened?" He asked looking between Kakashi and Tsunade.

"It's my fault." They both said, looking at each other with shock.

"I don't understand." The blond said standing to look at them.

"Naruto, I sent Sakura on a mission, alone."

"WHAT!"

"There was a rumor going around about some rouge ninjas, I thought that it was Sasuke, and I thought that it would be safe to send her, to talk to him." The Kage said looking down; she couldn't look them in the eyes.

"What?" Kakashi said in a low angry voice. Naruto turned to look at his former teacher, not fully understanding what was going on.

"You sent her to a village in hopes of her talking Sasuke into coming back, not thinking that he could be a different Sasuke then what she knew, you willing endangered her life, for what?"

"We knew that Sasuke is not longer working with Orochimaru, and we haven't heard anything out of him in some time, we thought that he was killed by Sasuke, we needed to know." She said, looking him in the eye, she didn't want him to forget who she was, even if she did make a mistake.

"So you're telling me Sasuke did this to her." Naruto said, anger filling his voice, his fist balling.

"We don't know."

"When will she wake up?" He asked, as he sat down next to her bed, moving some hair out of her face. Kakashi looked on as the blond touched her with care, and love.

"I don't know, I have done everything I can to heal her body; however it's her mind and heart that I'm not able to do anything about."

"There is a seal placed within her heart, one that is blocking her chakra, that's why she wasn't able to heal herself. With time, it'll dissolve and she'll have to learn how to use chakra again, I don't know how long that'll be."

"So we get to play the waiting game."

"Yes Naruto, I'll send word to you both when there is any change."

"And what makes you think we are leaving?" Kakashi said, pulling up a chair and setting in the corner.

Not wanting to fight them right now, and knowing that they needed to be with her, she didn't say anything and made her way to the door, and left.

They sat there for a few minutes without saying anything. Kakashi was fighting with himself once again; however Naruto's question brought him out of it.

"What did you mean that it was your fault too Kakashi?"

"I should have trained her better when she was mine to train, but I didn't."

"Kakashi it's not your fault! She was… is different."

"Yes she is."

It was all they needed to say, all they could say.

It wasn't till latter that night that Naruto had gotten up to go and get some food for them both, either one really wanting to leave her for long.

As he was waiting for him to return, he stood up and walked over to the bed side.

"Please wake up."

'Please forgive me'

Inside Sakura's mind

'Where am I?' Sakura asked as she stood in a dark corner of her mind.

'Why is it so dark?' She thought, 'What happened? Where is Kakashi?'

_"It's your fault__…_

_ …Sakura…_

_… Y__ou could__ have stopped it…_

_...Y__ou could have saved them__…_

_…__ Now they are all going to_ _die." _

'No! I did what I could! I tried to protect them!'

_… Did you?__ You didn't even try to fight, you ran, ran like you did all those years ago…_

'No, I didn't, that's not what I was doing, I was giving them time to get away."

_…__B__ut they didn't get away…_

'It's not my fault! I don't care what you say, It wasn't my fault!'

_…__ T__hen who's fault is it_

'Kabuto's'

Everything came crashing back to her, the pain that that man had inflicted onto her and the poor people of the village, everything that he had said about why he needed the scroll, about Sasuke being stronger then any of them.

'I won't let him get his hands on that scroll.'

_…__H__e is t__o__o strong for you…_

_…__H__ow are you going to keep __him from getting what he wants_

'I'll find Sasuke, he'll stop him.'

_…__ W__hat if he doesn't have time to fight your fight?__ He is seeking his brother_

'I have to try, there is no one else that can stop him.'

_…__ W__hat about Kakashi_

'Kakashi…'

Standing there she knew that it was Kakashi that had found her, she recalled him holding her, she didn't know much more then that, her heart began to hurt, feeling the pull between the two.

'I can't ask him to go with me, it's too dangerous, I don't care what happens to me, but if anything happened to him… I wouldn't ever forgive myself.'

_…__W__hy_

_…__W__hy do you care so much for his safety_

'I don't know…'

_…__L__ove…_

'Love?'

_… __your__love__ for him__…_

She thought this over, did she love him? She didn't know. It was true that she no longer saw him as a teacher, and she had gone on many missions with him and she was always concerned for his safe return, but did that mean that she loved him?

She had long ago given up on winning the love of Sasuke, came to terms with that. But did that mean that she had gained feelings for her older teammate?

Everything must have been getting to her, she began to here Kakashi's voice.

"Please wake up"

With Kakashi

Looking down he couldn't help but pray that she would hear him, follow his voice out of the darkness and back into the light.

"Ka.. Kakashi…"

Breathing stopped, that was all he needed.

"Sakura? Can you hear me? You're in the hospital back in Konoha, your safe." He spoke gently to her, running his hands though her hair, softly.

"…I'm sorry…"

"For what?"

"I know you don't like hospitals." She said as her eyes began to open slowly, her lips pulled into a smile.

"I'll forgive you, if your forgive me."

Turning her head, she looked to him with confusion. "For what?"

"For allowing this to happen to you, I should have been there."

The guilt was clear in his voice, and there was something else, what was it?

"Kakashi…"

The sound of the door opening stopped her from asking anything more, and before she knew it, Kakashi was setting in his chair in the corner. What was it that she was seeing in his eye?

"Sakura! You're awake, let me go get Tsunade!" Handing the food in his hands over to the quite man, Naruto took off down the hall screaming for the older medic.

"Some things never change do they?" She asked, looking back over to the corner.

"They only change if you let them." He answered back to her.

'And I'm going to make sure things change.' He thought to himself.

End of part 007

Ok, so I like this story so much I can't stop working on it. I hope that you all like it.


	8. Chapter 8

Mission Recall

Part 008

DanniMarie

Last time…

"Sakura! You're awake, let me go get Tsunade!" Handing the food in his hands over to the quite man, Naruto took off down the hall screaming for the older medic.

"Some things never change do they?" She asked, looking back over to the corner.

"They only change if you let them." He answered back to her.

'And I'm going to make sure things change.' He thought to himself.

Part 008

Setting up in the hospital bed wasn't where Sakura wanted to be, she had been there for the last few days and it was getting to her, not being able to go outside, and train, even work.

Looking over she looked to the chair that Kakashi would sit in when he had come to see her. He had been called to the Hokage Tower, a mission more then likely had come up.

She couldn't help but smile when she thought about her partner. He had stayed by her side the whole time, only leaving if he had to. They hadn't talked much; he let her rest and just watched over her, keeping the nightmares away.

Looking around, she saw that Naruto had brought her a change of clothing, a pair of light grey pants and a fluffy light pink hoodie.

Leaning up, she stretched her back, and pulled the covers off. Stepping out of the bed, she took a minute to gain footing and then made her way to the stand where her clothing was laying.

It took her longer then she would have like to get dressed, thinking back to what Tsunade had told her about her lack of chakra. She paused, how long would it take for her to gain her strength back?

'I'm sick of being weak!' she thought in her mind as she pulled the hoodie over her shoulders.

Looking around she found some slippers and slipped them on, then she made her way over the they door, opening it and looking out to see if anyone was walking by.

After she was sure that no one was walking down the hall, she stepped out of the room and made her way down the hall, then out side the hospital.

The cool air hit her and she was thankful for the hoodie. Taking in a deep breath she felt free from being stuck in that room.

Beginning her walk to her home, she hopped that no one tried to stop her; she just wanted to get home, take a shower and sleep in her own bed.

It wasn't long before she made it and walked into the dark house.

In the Hokage Tower

"Kakashi I understand that you don't want to leave, but you are the only on who can take this mission!" Tsunade yelled back.

They had been at this for the last hour, she had gotten word that Sasuke had been spotted close to the Rain Village and she needed to know where he was headed.

Looking her right in the eyes he couldn't stop from glaring at her. "I'm not leaving." He said calmly.

"I could have your ass for this Kakashi; you are disregarding an order from the Hokage." This wasn't going how she had hopped.

Looking down, he thought about his next move. Standing up straight, he looked to her. Lifting his hands he reached behind his head.

A clank was heard as his Leaf headband hit her desk. "Then you leave me no choice." He said and turned and walked away.

She didn't know what to say, she had never had to deal with this before. "Kakashi, do you know what you are doing?" She said though her teeth

He didn't look back as he made his way out of the office. He knew that she could have him thrown in a cell and forget about him; however it was a risk that he had to take.

Jumping he took off to the hospital, he needed to talk to Sakura. Once he made it to the room, his heart stopped, it was empty. Looking around he saw that he old clothing was placed on the bed, and the ones that Naruto had brought where gone.

Knowing that she had left, on her own, he made his way to the one place he knew he would find her.

Once he landed at her front door, he saw that it had been left unlocked; he would have to get on her for that latter.

"Sakura?" He asked walking into her house. "Sakura I know you're in here."

Shutting the door and locking it, he looked around and then heard the shower water running. Knowing that she couldn't here him, he waited till she came out.

Had she been able to use her chakra, she would have been able to since him, this didn't settle well with him. He didn't like the fact that anyone could walk up behind her and do whatever they wished, and she wouldn't be able to stop them.

Hearing the water shut off, he waited, it was only a few minutes latter that the door opened and the stem rolled out of the room. Sakura made her way out, clad in only a fluffy white towel; she hadn't seemed to know that he was there till he cleared his throat.

With a slight jump she turned to see her partner standing in her house; however the thing that she was paying attention to was that she was looking into his eyes. Not just one, but both, then she saw that he wasn't wearing the headband.

"Kakashi, what happened?" She said walking up to him, forgetting about her towel.

He didn't know if he should tell her the truth or say nothing at all, but he couldn't do that to her. "I quit."

The color drained from her face, and she felt weak. Before she could fall, Kakashi caught her and picked her up and took her into her bed room.

"Why?" She asked softly.

"The Hokage and I had a difference of opinion." He said, not wishing to get into detail, walking in and setting her down on the bed.

"You can't just quit! You have to protect the village!" She said starting to get angry with him. How dear he quit on her, she wanted to quit, but she never did, he never let her.

Feeling all the weight on his shoulders, he knew that he was reaching his breaking point. "How can I protect the Village when I can't even protect those I love!"

"You couldn't have done anything to stop what happened to Rin and …"

"This has nothing to do with them." He spoke softly.

Getting off the bed, still holding her towel, she stood. "Kakashi if this has anything to do with what happened to me, it not your fault."

"Yes it is, I should have never let you take it. The lest I could have done would have been to stay closer. I failed the mission, and you."

"You didn't fail me, you saved my life." She said as she walked to him, lifting her hand and touched his face, she could feel the hurt and pain. She whished that she could do something to help him, taking a deep breath she pulled her hand away, only to have it stopped but his.

He looked into her eyes, and what happened next, was the last thing that she had ever thought that would happen to her. Leaning in, he took in a deep breath.

"Come with me, let's leave the Village. I can help you train, to gain your strength back, please let me protect you, I need to." The tone in his voice was one of a lost child looking for him mother, he was lost, and he needed her to find himself.

She didn't know what to say, she wanted to get back to training, and she knew that Tsunade wouldn't let her this soon after getting out of the hospital. Thinking everything over, she looked into his eyes and smiled.

"I'll go, only if your promise that once we get stronger, we go after Kabuto. I have a score to settle with him."

The weight had been lifted off his shoulders, "You have a deal."

Looking around her room she realized that she was still in her towel and that Kakashi was still in her room. "Um, Kakashi, do you think that I can get changed?"

Rubbing his head, he laughed and turned to leave. "We should leave as soon as we can. Tsunade won't be happy once she finds out that you aren't at the hospital."

"Yeah, ok."

Shutting the door, he took a deep breath, he was about to start a new life, one of e missing-nin, on the run, the only thing that bothered him was that he was pulling Sakura into this, would she hate him latter on?

He didn't want to think about that, he just wanted to get out of the village, with Sakura beside him.

Hearing the bed room door open, he turned to see her with a small black bag. She had on a pair of long warm pants and a black hoodie.

"I'm ready."

"Let go then shall we?"

They made there way to the door and as he opened it, they heard a loud voice. "KAKASHI HATAKI! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! COME OUT!"

'Shit'

"Kakashi what's going on?" However before she got an answer, she felt him grab her and lift her up into his arms. He walked out, holding Sakura in his arms and looked into the four ANBU teams that where sent to get him.

"He has Sakura." He heard one of them say.

"We don't want to fight, Kakashi, please put Sakura down and come with us."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that." Before anyone could stop him, he took off, making his way to the gate. He knew that they where a ways behind him and that they wouldn't give up till they had him. He should have known that the Hokage wouldn't let one of the best Shinobi just walk out, let alone take her only student.

"Kakashi, what is going on?" Sakura asked as she clung to him.

Looking down he saw the fear in her eyes. "Do you trust me?"

Without thinking she nodded.

"Then please just trust me that this is for the best."

Somewhere close to the Village of Rain

A shadow past by a vender selling some rice balls and stopped to buy one. After paying the man, he walked on, till he heard some men talking about a village that attack, in the Waterfall village.

'Um, someone had fun.' He thought.

"Yeah I heard that they where looking for something, didn't find it though."

"Oh really, that's good. Didn't they take the survivors to the Leaf village?"

"Yeah, I also heard that there was a Leaf ninja that was there at the time of the attack, poor girl, she got it bad. They didn't think she would make it. Be a shame if anything happened to her, heard that she was really pretty with that pink hair and all."

Dropping the rice ball, the shadow took off, heading to the village that he said that he wouldn't return to till he had killed his brother. However the burning that was taking over his chest was enough to get him moving.

End Part 008

Ok there ya go, I hope that you all liked it. Just to let you all know I am working on another story and I'm trying to work on them at the same time, so I'll be updating every other chapter, unless I get like a ton of reviews then I'll work on whatever one is being read that most. Again I love you all and thank you all for reading.


	9. Chapter 9

Mission Recall

DanniMarie

Side note: From this point on you are going to be seeing a more raw version of Kakashi, he is going to begin to change from the lazy shinobi and become something much more fearsome. Don't worry this is still a Kakashi/Sakura story, it's just going to head down a darker path, but don't worry, he still loves to laugh, and he will do anything to see a smile on Sakura's face.

Last time…

"Yeah, I also heard that there was a Leaf ninja that was there at the time of the attack, poor girl, she got it bad. They didn't think she would make it. Be a shame if anything happened to her, heard that she was really pretty with that pink hair and all."

Dropping the rice ball, the shadow took off, heading to the village that he said that he wouldn't return to till he had killed his brother. However the burning that was taking over his chest was enough to get him moving.

Part 009

Warmth, even though snow was falling around them, she felt warm.

'Kakashi'

Her mind had still been running a hundred miles an hour. So much had happened in such a short of time, they where on the run, running away from the only village that she knew, her home.

They had been jumping from tree to tree at a speed that she didn't know that Kakashi possessed. She knew that there was much to this man that she had yet to learn, however she knew that he would tell her when he was ready.

One must face things on their own before they could talk to others about their hardships, at lest when it came to Kakashi.

She didn't know how long they had been traveling, but she knew they had to be far enough away to slow down, and maybe take a break. "Kakashi, I think we lost them, you can slow down." She whispered.

She had a hard time looking at the man that was carrying her, his eye held so much pain; she knew that he was arguing with himself.

Looking down to the women he help in his arms, and seeing the look on her face, the unasked questions, he knew that it would be best to stop and rest for a few minutes. They had a long trip ahead of them and he would be the one doing all the work. They needed to move fast, and seeing as how Sakura wasn't able to keep up with him on her own, he would have to carry her, not that he minded.

Jumping down from one of the trees, he landed lightly and took care in righting her, so she could stand. He took a few steps back, to allow her space. She stood there for a moment, getting her footing back. She was still weak from having left the hospital early, and then from being carried.

Looking around she could tell that they where close to the border, she just didn't know where. She hadn't seen what way they where headed, and she was sure that Kakashi had changed direction a few times to throw the ANBU teams off.

"So where are we?" She asked, still trying to figure it out herself.

"We're close to the Hidden Village of Rain. We'll rest for the night, and then we'll make our way from there." He said trying his hardest to sound like he had a plan.

"So what you're saying is that we are just going to have to wing it." She said, looking back to him. She didn't sound frustrated like he thought she would have, no sign of disappointment in her voice. "I can handle that." She said with a smile.

Taken back by her smile, did she truly know what they had gotten themselves into? "Sakura, it's not going to be that easy."

Taking a deep breath she looked into his eye. "Kakashi, I know what lays ahead of us, a life on the run, and I'm ok with that. I know that it's going to be tuff, and dangerous, but I know that we can handle it together."

"Sakura…" His voice was weak; he didn't know what to say. She was ready to do this, and she wasn't backing down.

"Don't look at me like that, I mean we are partners after all. I can't very well let you do this alone." Before she knew what was happening, he closed the distance between them and took her in his arms and hugged her. She could feel the raw strength in his arms, and for the first time of knowing him, she saw him as a man, one who was hurting more then she was on the inside. He needed her, as much as she needed him.

Stepping back, he looked to her and then couldn't help but smile, even under his mask. All the things that she had been put though; she still put him first, a true friend.

Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes then began to release it slowly. She mentally pushed all her stress, all her worries, and her fears out of her mind. This was a new beginning for her, and she would do everything she could to gain her strength back. 'To become a stronger person, not for my village, but for myself, and for Kakashi…'

She saw a flash of yellow and she opened her eyes. "Naruto." She said his name softly. She looked back to Kakashi to see the same hurt. "We left him." She said, tears glistened in her eyes.

Taking out a kunai knife, he cut his thump and summoned Pukkun. The dog looked around and saw that they where in the forest, not the village.

"Kakashi, everything ok?" He asked as he saw Sakura.

"Pukkun, I need you to go back to the village, find Naruto and tell him, that…"

"Tell him that we well always love him, and we would love to see him when ever we can, but we have chosen to leave to village. It was for the best. He'll understand." Sakura said cutting Kakashi off, while she whipped her tears away, she had to be strong.

The little dog looked between the to shinobi and couldn't help but just stair. "You two left the village?"

"Yes." They both said together.

Getting up, he looked back to Kakashi and then took off, knowing that he wasn't supposed to get caught.

"Well here's to a new beginning." She said looking over to him.

"A new beginning indeed." He said thinking more on the thought. Looking over to Sakura he saw that she had began to walk off, looking around. Looking at his hands, he lifted them to his face.

Sakura was looking to see if she could find any berry bush's even though it was winter. She was hopping to find something to eat, her stomach was empty and she knew that she needed all the strength she could get.

She was about to ask Kakashi if he had anything on him, when she saw something fly past her face and land on the cold ground a few feet in front of her. She walked over to pick it up when she saw that it was Kakashi's mask.

Taking a deep breath she was afraid to turn around. Her heart was beating faster in her chest and she was sure it would have jumped right out if she wasn't holding it in, clutching the thin mask in her hands.

Inhaling the air that she had been withholding from her lungs, she turned around, looking down as she did so. All her life of knowing him, she had never seen his face. He had always worn the mask, never aloud anyone to see him. She never was told why, and she never asked. She had thought that it was because he had a scar from an old battle and that it had marred his face.

"A new life, means no more running from our past." She heard him say, taking a deep breath, she looked up and what she saw made her almost pass out.

He was beautiful. Not many men could be called beautiful, but the man that stood before couldn't be called anything else. He looked much younger then she thought her would have, clean cut, soft skin. Everything about him was perfect. Why he would want to hide his face was beyond her.

Walking to her, she couldn't take her eyes off him. Everything felt hot, her heart was beating faster, and everything was moving slow.

Snow fell from the sky above, as he moved closer to her. He knew that he had shocked her, but her silence was killing him.

"Why?" She asked pulling her eyes away from him and looking back to the cloth in her hand.

Knowing that she didn't understand why he had warn the mask to begin with, he knew that he owed her that much.

"My father," He said, as he started to talk, she looked back to him, watching him, watching everything about him.

"I was always told that I looked like him right down to the grin. We always did everything together, till he was asked to go on a mission to another village. He was gone for a long time, and it wasn't till latter that I learned that he had never really went out on a mission. He had been ordered to leave the village. They wouldn't tell me anything, not until I begged them to tell me the truth.

"Come to find out, my father, the man that I looked up to, was non other then the Great White Fang."

Sakura took everything in, not wanting to stop and ask any questions, she knew that this was the most he had opened up to anyone in a long time, he needed to just be able to talk, to get it out.

"He was the most wanted man. The only reason that they let him leave was if he promised to never come back, never come near the village again. I hated that man, he left me behind, he never cared about my mother or for me, we where just a cover."

"Kakashi…"

"That's when I began to ware the mask. My mother couldn't stand to look at me, every time she did, she saw him. Everyone who saw me, saw how much I took after him, saw him in me. I couldn't stand the thought of being anything like that man. Behind that mask, I could hide, and I could become something new. I worked so hard to prove myself to everyone that I wasn't anything like the man that fathered me."

"It's funny though, just like him, I left the village, and just like he had done, I'll become a rouge ninja."

"Kakashi, your nothing like that man, you have never lied to me, you have never done anything to hurt me, or those around you. You care for others; you fight for those who can't fight for themselves. I should know, I'm one of them right now."

Walking closer to him, she lifted her hand and reached it to his face, stopping shy of touching it. She looked into his eyes, asking if it was alright. Without an answer she placed her hand on his cheek. It was warm, tone and strong.

Closing his eyes he let her touch his face. The last time he had been touched like this way by his mother, before they found out about the lie they had been living in. All those years of not being in contact with another person crashed down on him.

Opening his eyes he looked into hers. He hadn't noticed how green they where, how they sparkled in the dim day light.

Without thinking, letting his heart lead for once in his adult life, he leaned in and took her lips with his. He felt her stiffen, as he rapped his arms around her small back, deepening the kiss.

Sakura's mind was at a loss. She had never in a million years expected to be kissed by her partner.

It was perfect.

As he kissed her, she opened her mouth, allowing his warm, soft, gentle tongue to slide in, slowly learning everything about her.

He didn't know what had taken over, but he couldn't argue with what he was feeling.

It was perfect.

Pulling back, he looked to see that her eyes where still closed, still lingering in the feeling of the kiss, the warmth of his mouth on hers, the feeling of being in his arms.

She slowly opened her eyes and what met her, was something she wasn't ready for.

Love

It was clear as day, she was seeing love in his eyes, eyes that where looking at her.

"Sakura…"

"Kakashi…"

Pulling away, they continued to stare at each other. They didn't want to lose the felling they both had, and they seemed to know that it was best to not talk about it; it was still too fresh, too new.

"We should get going; I don't want you to get caught out here in the cold again." He said looking around, getting his bearings straight.

All she could do was nod. After he knew what direction they where going to head, he walked up to her, slowly lifting her into his arms.

Looking up, she saw a whole new man, one that wasn't afraid to show express how he felt, a man that had to learn how to use those feelings all over again, with her help.

End Part 009

I hoped that you all enjoyed reading this part, I had a lot of fun working on it. I don't know when I'll be able to update again, there is a lot of things going on at work, I'm getting married, and moving all in one week, and it happens to all fall on this week!

After I get moved in, I don't know when I'll be able to get internet access, so it may be a while before I update, however, if I get 100 reviews, I'll find a way… if I get more then that…. I'll try and work on it even harder…. What can I say; I just love to read what you all think.

Till next time, DanniMarie


	10. Chapter 10

Mission Recall

DanniMarie

Side note: I would like to take the time to say a very special thank you to those of you who have; read and reviewed, added me to their favorite lists and alerts.

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re.tacere. would have stopped working on this if it wasn't for you all. Again thank you all very much and I hope that you enjoy this next part.

Last time…

Looking up, she saw a whole new man, one that wasn't afraid to show express how he felt, a man that had to learn how to use those feelings all over again, with her help.

Part 010

Snow was beginning to fall heavier, and Tsunade wasn't happy that she had to call off the search party. As much as she wanted both Kakashi and Sakura back within the village walls, she wasn't going to risk losing more shinobi, to the storm, or to the wraith of Kakashi.

She understood why Kakashi had left, but why had he taken Sakura with him? She still had yet to ask her in full what had happened to the village, what happened to her, and she knew that there was important information that she needed from the woman.

Taking a deep breath, she looked around her cold office. It was so quite, to quite. Only a few minutes ago, Naruto had been in to see her, yelling at her for calling off the ANBU teams. He was worried abut Sakura, everyone was.

They had thought that Kakashi went rouge and kidnapped Sakura to get back at the village. However she knew better then that.

'He's trying to protect her. But from what?' She couldn't do any more work with her mind set as it was. Getting up she walked over to the door and opened it. Looking for Shizune to tell her that she was leaving for the day. It was early in the afternoon, and she did have a lot of work to do, but she needed to deal with the 'Kakashi/Sakura' thing first.

If too many found out that he had quite, because he didn't want to take the mission, they would think that something was wrong, and that would make her look bad.

It wasn't a secret that Kakashi was a force that you wouldn't want to go against, and the fact that he had been trained by the Fourth himself, wasn't something that went unnoticed.

However what many didn't know was that he was the one who had been asked to be the next Hokage, but he turned it down, saying that he was better fighting in the battle, not planning it out. No matter how much of a lie it was.

Walking down the halls, Tsunade knew that she should have known better then to go against him on any matter. She would hate to admit it, but she had always had a small fear of the man. He was always clam no matter what, because he knew that when the time came, he could handle anything that was thrown at him.

'Not this time.' She thought as she recalled the look in his eye when he came to get her, to take her to save his partner. 'I should have known then not to push him. But then again, I've always been bad at gabling.'

She couldn't help but laugh, she had always lost, and she was going up against a man who never lost, he always won, no matter what.

With a sigh she lowered her head, she would have to get word to him, to let him know that she would allow him back into the village, when they where ready. She just couldn't risk the chance of losing them, not like this.

"I'll send Naruto to tell them." She said out loud not caring if others looked at her funny.

"You there, go and send for Naruto, tell him that I have a top ranking mission for him." She barked out to a Genin team that was passing by.

"Yes ma'am!" They all said with a bow, and took off down the hall.

At the Front Gate

"I can't wait till spring comes back around. Man I'm so sick of this cold weather." One of the gate keeps said, talking with his partner.

"Tell me about it, and it doesn't help that there isn't any heating in the tower. We really need to take this up with the Hokage."

Laughing at his friend, "Yeah, to bad she has other things to worry about right now."

Looking down, he pulled his coat closer around him, it was true, she did have a lot going on; getting heat to the front gate wasn't something to bother her about right now.

They looked out over the gate into the snow covered forest that lay before them. "Think she's ok?"

Looking to his friend he couldn't help but look confused. "Who?"

"Lady Sakura." He said, quite. Everyone in the village knew that she had left, and agents the orders of the Hokage.

"We can only hope. I mean she's with Kakashi Hatake. Even though we may not know why they left, I know that he wouldn't hurt her. He couldn't ever hurt anyone who is from the Leaf."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sure there is something much more going on, to bad we don't know."

They both laughed to that, they didn't want to know.

"Hey, did you see that?" One of them asked to other, looking deeper into the falling snow.

"See what?" His friend asked looking. It wasn't long before they saw that the branches where moving, only the way they would if someone was coming, and fast.

Looking at each other, they knew that something wasn't right, there wasn't any incoming shinobi on the schedule for the day.

Before they could send a warning to the others, a dark figure jumped out of the thick snow covered trees, taking one more jump from the ground before landing right on the gate, just a few feet away from the two guards.

They couldn't believe who they where looking at; the last person they had expected to see was Sasuke Uchiha.

Glaring at the two guards, Sasuke didn't waste time asking them where Sakura was. Just as quickly as he landed, he took off, heading for the Hokage's Tower.

Leaving the two shocked men behind him, with a smile on his face, he rushed foreword. The desire to know what had befallen his former teammate, burned in his chest.

End of Part 010

Sorry for it being a short chapter, I'm already working on the next one and I hope to have it out soon.


	11. Chapter 11

Mission Recall

DanniMarie

Side note: Sorry that the last few chapters have been short. I hope that I can make up for it in this chapter.

Last time…

They couldn't believe who they where looking at; the last person they had expected to see was Sasuke Uchiha.

Glaring at the two guards, Sasuke didn't waste time asking them where Sakura was. Just as quickly as he landed, he took off, heading for the Hokage's Tower.

Leaving the two shocked men behind him, with a smile on his face, he rushed foreword. The desire to know what had befallen his former teammate, burned in his chest.

Part 011

Hot water cascaded over her sore muscles, leaning her head into the water she allowed the water to fall down her back. Sakura was glad that Kakashi allowed her to take the first shower, she had been cold from the winter weather outside and this was warming her up nicely.

They had made it to a small village on the border of Leaf and Grass, and the first place they stopped was a small inn that they ran across. Not wanting to let her out of his sight, he had gotten one room, hoping that it would be ok with Sakura.

She didn't think much of it, there had been many times where they stayed in the same room together on missions, why would this be any different?

Shutting off the water, wanting to leave some hot water for Kakashi when he got back, she stepped out and grabbed a towel. Drying off, and then rapping her hair up in the towel, she took another towel from the rack and rapped it around her body. Looking down at her clothing that she had warn she picked them up and took them out of the room with her.

Looking around the small room, she saw that Kakashi was still out. When they had gotten into the room, he had told her to go ahead and take a shower, that he was going to go get something for them to eat, and knowing Kakashi, he was also going to have a look around the town to look and locate all the exits within the village.

Making her way over to her pack that she had brought with her, she pulled out a brush and was about to pull the towel off her hair when the door opened and Kakashi stepped in.

It was so hard to get used to seeing his face, she almost forgot that it was him. The thought of what had taken place out in the woods when he had taken the mask off, made her heart race a little faster then it should have been beating.

As he entered the room, he saw that she setting down on the bed, holding her brush. "Did you enjoy your shower?" He asked, hopping that she had warmed up.

With a smile she nodded. "Yes I did, I took a quick one, so there is some hot water left for you."

The benefits of him not wearing a mask could be seen as she could now see everything that he was thinking, and right now it was shock and happiness, she couldn't stop herself from laughing.

Raising his eyebrow he shut the door, and put a bag of food on the bed. "And what do you find so funny?"

"It's just that now without your mask, I can read you." She said, hopping that she hadn't offended him.

With a sigh he knew that she was right. Over the years he had relayed on the mask to not only hide his face from the world, but also to hide his feelings. He would have to learn how to conceal them better now, or he wouldn't have the advantage over his enemy. However what he was hopping that he was able hide was his desire for the women sitting on the bed still clad in the bath towel.

Looking over Sakura, he couldn't help but smile, it was good to see her happy, and knowing that he could be apart of that happening. Picking the items up out of the bag, he handed her a covered cup of soup.

"Here, eat this before it gets to cold. I'm going to take a shower." And with that he walked past her to the shower, a nice ice cold shower sounded great to him.

Opening the cup, she saw that it was chicken noodle, and began to drink it, not thinking to look in the bag for a spoon. The sound of the water running, drifted from the bathroom, and she could hear him let out a sigh as the hot water washed over his muscles as it had done her, or so she thought.

Once she was done with the soup she threw the cup away and walked over to her bag, pulling out her change of clothing. She thought that it would be a good idea to change before Kakashi got out of the shower. Pulling on an lose fitting t-shirt and some sweat pants, she began to take her hair out of the towel and brush it before it got to dry to manage.

Hearing the water shut off, she knew that Kakashi was done, and looked around, for the first time she saw that he didn't have a pack, meaning he didn't have a change of clothing.

Hearing the door to the bath room open, she saw Kakashi walk out, towel rapped around his waist. Turning away, she hopped that he hadn't seen how her face was burning at that moment.

They had shared rooms before yes, but she had never seen him in nothing but a towel, he always got dressed in the bath room, due to his mask.

'Breath, Sakura you have to breath.' She kept telling herself over and over. She had known that it was possible that he had a nice body; he was a ninja after all, a world renown shinobi.

In the short time that she had looked, she had seen his pale skin, tone muscles, tight abs, broad shoulders, and scares that he had gained over the years of serving as a shinobi. She waited for him to walk back into the bathroom and put some clothing on, however he didn't.

He walked over to the bed, and sat down, digging in the bag to pick up a cup of his own. As he took the lid off to open it, he looked over to Sakura to see her looking away from him.

Worry felt his chest thinking that she wasn't feeling well. "Sakura, you ok?" He asked.

With a jump she turned around, her face glowing a bright red. She tried not to stair; however she couldn't help as her eyes wandered over his tone torso.

"I.. I'm fine." She stuttered. Quickly she stood, grabbing her brush and disappeared into the bathroom.

Stunned, not knowing what really happened, he looked down, and then it hit him. This was the first time that she had seen him, and only in a towel. With a sigh he stood up, setting down the cup and walked over to the door and knocked.

"Sakura, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you." He said as he leaned his head on the door.

He waited for a reply, but didn't get one. "Sakura?" He called out to her again in a soft voice.

The door opened, and a small hand come out, holding his clothing. Taking the hint, he took the cloths and walked back over to the bed. Laying them down, he took the towel off and began to put his clothing back on. After he had his pants and undershirt on, he called out to her, letting her know that he was covered.

After a few more minutes, he heard the door open and he saw her walk out, her hair was pulled to the side in a braid, she had yet to look at him, her eyes seemed to be glued to the floor. Knowing that she was still trying to deal with everything, he stood up and walked over to pick up the cup of now cold soup.

Knowing that she would relax if he changed the subject, he turned away, looking at the door. "You can have the bed tonight; I'll sleep on the floor. We have a long trip ahead of us tomorrow, and you need to get your rest, you still have some healing to do. How are you feeling?"

Making her way to the bed, she sat down pulling her knees up to her chest. "I'm ok." She said, no louder then a whisper.

Thinking about what he had said she looked up to him, seeing that he was wearing his old clothing. "Do you think that we should go into town and get a few things tomorrow before we leave?"

"It would be a good idea; I should get another change of clothing." Not meaning to bring up the subject they where trying to not talk about, however the burning red glow returned to her face and he knew where her train of thought had taken her.

He didn't like making her feel uncomfortable, even if he did think she looked cute with her cheeks aglow with the red hue.

"We should get to bed." He said, knowing that it would be best to stop talking all together. Walked over to a small closet and pulled out an extra blanket and pillow, setting it down on the floor next to the bed.

She had curled under the covers as he made his way over to turn out the lights. Allowing his eyes to get used to the darkness he then walked over to his sleeping area and sat down.

A few minutes went by in the dark quite room; that was until he heard Sakura call out to him.

"Kakashi?" She said in a low voice.

"Yeah Sakura?"

More silence.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor." Came her quite statement.

Thinking about what she said for a minute, he heard the bed sift. "The bed is big enough for both of us, and you're the one who needed to get the rest."

Knowing that it took a lot on her part to offer him to share bed, he didn't want go into the improperness of it all, and who would turn down a soft bed?

Gathering his pillow and blanket from the floor, he sat on the bed, looking over his shoulder to see that she had turned around and was facing the other wall. "I'll just stay on top of the covers." He said as he lay down, resting his head on the pillow, he hadn't realized how tiered he really was.

With in a few minutes, they had both drifted off into a dreamless sleep, not knowing what lay ahead of them come the morning.

In Konoha

Fear

Anger

Rage

Fear

Rage

Regret

Fear

Lady Tsunade couldn't control the emotions that where running though her right now, there where too many, and they kept fighting to be dominate.

She had been sitting in her office, waiting for Naruto, when her window was blown open allowing the winter snow to fill her office, when she had gotten up to close it she couldn't help but get the feeling that something was off. After closing the window and turning around to head back to her deck, she saw some one was sitting at her desk.

The air in her lungs couldn't escape. "Sasuke"

Standing up, she noticed how much he had grown, and how much he had changed. His hair was longer, still spiky, but longer. His height demanded respect, and she didn't even want to know how strong he had gotten, under the training of Orochimaru.

"Lady Tsunade." He said, his voice holding something that she was afraid to name.

"What are you doing here?" It was the only thing that she could ask, it was simple and to the point.

"I'm here to gather information, and you will tell me what I want to know." He said, standing up and walking around the desk, closer to her.

"Tell me about the village that was destroyed on the border of Waterfall, and what does it have to do with Sakura."

Taking a deep breath she readied in her mind what she was going to say. However she didn't have much time to answer, just at that moment, the door opened and Naruto walked in.

"Hey Grandma, I was told that…" As soon as he saw that she wasn't alone he stopped, looking over he saw who else was in the room and wasted no time in getting in front of the Hokage.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" He asked with venom in his words.

Not wanting to ask his question again he looked over the blonds shoulders to the women he was protecting, glaring into her eyes.

"I won't ask again." He said.

Taking a deep breath, Tsunade walked around to the side of Naruto, still remaining close to the younger man.

"I sent Sakura on a mission to look into a rumor about rouge ninja that were said to be close to the village on the border. I had her infiltrate the village, to see what she could find out; she was to report to Kakashi every two weeks. "

Looking at Naruto, she knew that this was all knew information to him as well.

"Nothing came up for over six months, and then out of nowhere the whole village was destroyed, if it hadn't been for Kakashi, Sakura would have been killed. We still don't know who did it, but I believe that it was Orochimaru who was behind it." She said, knowing the games that he liked to play.

Sasuke took in a deep breath, "It wasn't Orochimaru."

"And how do you know that!" Naruto shouted.

"Because I dealt with him over two years ago." He said in a cold low voice.

"What do you mean you 'dealt' with him?" Tsunade asked.

Ignoring what she had questioned him about, he asked her something in turn. "Why do you believe that it was the snake that attacked?"

"When Sakura was brought back, she was in bad shape, for some reason she was unable to heal herself, her chakra was being blocked. It took me a while, but I found that there had been a seal placed within her very heart, blocking all her chakra flow. A forbidden seal."

With a growl he disappeared and reappeared behind them, his arm around her neck. "Did you release the seal?"

"I couldn't, I didn't know who had placed it there and I didn't want to cause more problems. Besides it's a time seal, over time it'll dissolve and it'll be gone."

Letting her go, he looked over to them, they really had no clue what had been started. "The only person I know who could have done that would have to be Kabuto." He offered up to them.

"That basterd." Naruto said in a low tone, anger clear in his voice.

"Then it was Kabuto that was looking for the scroll." She said thinking things over. "What would he want with it though?" She said more to herself then to the men in the room.

"What scroll?" Sasuke asked, looking between the two before him.

"They had been looking for a scroll that was hidden in the village, that's why the destroyed it."

"Do they have it?" he asked, a sickening feeling taking over.

"No, because of Sakura, it was kept safe." Naruto said, still keeping on the ready, incase his former team mate thought to pull a fast one on him again.

"Where is Sakura now?"

The color drained from both Naruto's face as well as Tsunade's. "I won't ask again, where is Sakura?"

"She is no longer here in the village." Tsunade said, looking up to the man to see anger clearly in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" He asked in a demanding voice.

"Kakashi took her out of the village." Naruto said, looking down.

Sasuke wasn't even able to ask why, there where to many thoughts running though his mind. "How long ago did they leave?" He asked, they could hear the slight worry in his voice.

"Early this morning, but you can't find them, this is Kakashi we are talking about here, Sasuke, you know as well as I do, if that man doesn't want to be found he won't be." Naruto said, looking into the eyes of the man he once called brother.

Without saying another word he walked over to the window and was about to jump out with he looked back to the two in the room. "It's not a time seal, it's a count down. When the seal is gone, the chakra of the one who was sealed will rush them, killing them from the inside out."

Unable to breath, Naruto and Tsunade remand silent.

"What, what did you say?" Naruto asked, not wanting to believe what he had just heard.

"Kabuto never lets go of a kill."

"Wait, are you saying that there is no way to revoke the seal?" Tsunade asked, fearing for her student.

Looking down, he couldn't say one way or another, he wasn't sure that there was anything that could be done for her, but he was going to be dammed if he didn't try. Without saying anything else, he jumped out; he wasn't about to waste time. He needed to know is she was ok; he wouldn't let her die, not because of him.

"Wait!" Tsunade shouted out to the cold air, trying to call the former leaf ninja back, however a shadow jumped out next to her and she saw Naruto take off after him.

'Please, let them find her, let them safe her.' She thought as she closed the window, knowing that everything was out of her hands now. Now everything was in the hands of the two men who had grown to hate each other, they would set aside there hatred to save the one person who they both cared about.

'Sakura, please be ok.'

End of Part 011

Oh what's going to happen? Keep checking back for the next chapter of Mission Recall.

Reviews welcome.

And thank you to all those who do review, it means a lot to me to know that you enjoy my story.


	12. Chapter 12

Mission Recall

DanniMarie

Side note: I know that you all have been waiting for another chapter to come out, and here it is. As some of you know I got married last week and have been moving (oh the fun) and I just got to a point where I can start to work on this story, along with others.

Thank you all for waiting, I hope that you all like this chapter.

Last time…

'Please, let them find her, let them safe her.' She thought as she closed the window, knowing that everything was out of her hands now. Now everything was in the hands of the two men who had grown to hate each other, they would set aside there hatred to save the one person who they both cared about.

'Sakura, please be ok.'

Mission Recall

Part 012

Warm rays of sunlight peaked though the tree tops, warming the cool winter air. Snow still covered the forest floor covering the ground and all that lay on it.

It was still early in the morning, only around nine, and yet Sakura and Kakashi had been traveling for the last four hours.

She had awaken to Kakashi shaking her lightly, telling her that they needed to get moving, in order to keep ahead of the hunters that where still on there trial.

After they had gathered what little they had with them, they took a quick trip to the marked to gather a few items that they would need. It was still too early to get everything they had thought to get. Kakashi had thought it wise to get a new change of clothing for them both, and a warm coat, seeing as they had a few more weeks of winter left, and they would be outside most the time.

Once again Sakura found herself being carried by her teammate. When they had left the village, Kakashi didn't even think to ask if she was able to walk on her own. He had lifted her into his arms as if she was nothing more then a rag doll.

'This is silly.' She thought as she looked up to the unmasked face of Kakashi. She still found it hard to look at him, and how every time she did a warm sensation would flood her body. The heat would make its way to her cheeks and she knew that if he was to look at her that very minute, he would question her if she was felling alright.

"Um, Kakashi?" She asked gaining the attention of the other ninja.

Jumping down from the tree that he had just landed on, he let Sakura stand on her own two feet, looking to her letting her know that he was waiting for her to ask the question that she had on her mind. When she just looked down, she looked her over to make sure that she was alright and that she wasn't hurt anywhere, looking for any signs of pain.

"Yes Sakura?" He asked after seeing that there was nothing wrong with her.

"Um, well are you planning on carrying me all the time?" She asked, looking up and steering him in the eyes. "I mean, I am able to walk on my own."

Taken back by her question, he laughed, rubbing his head. "Well I know that. It's just faster this way. We can walk for a little while if you would like." He had know that she wouldn't have let him carry her all the way, however he had hopped that she wouldn't have ask to walk so soon, he missed the feeling of her in his arms.

With a smile, she nodded. It would feel nice to walk for once. With that, they took of walking thought the snow covered forest. It was a change of pace for Kakashi, it gave him time to look around and really see things for the first time. He was so used to getting from one place to another as fast as he could, not taking his time.

Lifting his hands behind his head, he looked up and saw how the sun was lighting up all the trees, and how the snow covered even the branches of the trees that he had been using to jump from. Taking a deep breath he took in the cool winter air and it filled his lungs. He was glad that she had asked to just walk for a while, this was nice.

Looking over he saw that she was taking her time walking thought the snow, not wanting to step on a hidden stone, or root.

As he looked on, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she really was. Thinking back to the kiss they shared, and what had happened in the room, he knew that there was many unanswered questions that where running thought both their minds.

He didn't even know the answers, but he did know that he didn't want to lose her, one way or another. Thinking to himself he knew that he needed to get his feeling in order before he could ask her anything.

The one question that was running over and over in his mind wouldn't leave him alone, till he found the answer.

'What is she to me?'

He had come to terms that she was far more important to him then even the village; he had left it for her, to keep her safe.

Somewhere deep down inside, a small voice came from the dark corners of his mind. 'You love her. You want her, you want everything of her. You want to make her yours, and only yours. You want to be the one to make her smile, you what to be the one she runs to when she is hurt, you want to kill those who hurt her.'

It was all to much, to many feelings running around freely in his mind, and the burning feeling in his heart told him that it was all true. Turning around to look back at her, he met her eyes, and she smiled, a true smile.

And at that moment, he knew. No matter what, he would love her, show her how someone should be loved, show her that even though times where going to be hard for them, that he was always going to the pillar in her life.

Taking a calming breath, he knew that he didn't want to hid anything from her, that's why he had taken off the mask.

"Sakura?" He asked, waiting for her to catch up to where he was.

"Yeah Kakashi." She said, looking up to him.

"Would you like to start some light training?" He asked. It wasn't what he had wanted, but something kept him from asking her.

The look on her face told him that that was what she needed to hear. "Yeah!"

"Now, nothing to hard, we are just going to do some small hand to hand, just to keep your muscles up, can't have you going and getting weak on me."

Setting their things down, they took a fighting stance. Kakashi let her come to him, not wanting to push her. As she took a step to advance, she saw a smile find its way onto Kakashi's lips.

She knew that he was going to block everything that she could throw at him, however he did it in a way, where he met her blow for blow, each time looking her right in the eyes. Moving away to gain some ground, she looked up to find that he was advancing, not allowing her to distance herself from him.

They preformed the dance of flying fist and kicking legs for a good half hour till he noticed that she was breathing harder and already beginning to sweat, something that would have taken much longer to happen.

He was about to call it quits when he turned around, and was met by a rather strong right hook.

"Oh my gods, Kakashi are you ok? I thought that you would have seen that and dodged it." Sakura asked as she bent down to meet him on the forest floor.

He lifted his hand up to touch it and winced in pain, he didn't think that she would still be able to hid hard, and that had been his down fall.

"Let me see it." She asked pulling his hand back and she winced herself after she saw the skin begin to turn a bright red. Moving to her pack she pulled out a cream and was about to squeeze some out onto her hand, when he stopped her.

"You know, a kiss would work much better." He said looking over at her to see what her reaction would be.

Turning a bright red she looked down. "Oh is that so?"

"Yes, remember my mother telling me when I was growing up, that kisses where great medicine." He said leaning in.

Before he knew it, she had kissed his check, right where it was swelling. As she was pulling away, she was stopped by his hand at the back of her neck, pulling her closer.

Once again she found herself kissing her former teacher, and enjoying it. She didn't want to think about why, or how wrong it was, she just didn't want him to stop, didn't want to lose the feeling of his warmth.

Not knowing what she was doing, just letting her heart lead for once, she wrapped her arms around him, and together they made their way down to the forest floor.

Pulling back Kakashi looked down to see Sakura lying under him, eyes closed and lip partly parted. Knowing where this was and could lead, he pulled her up as he pulled himself up to stand.

He could tell that she was confused once again and he tried to tell himself that he felt nothing, however once again his heart was screaming back at him.

Looking back over his shoulder he saw the look on her face.

"Kakashi, please tell me, tell me that you're not just playing with me and that, that there is something, something more to this." She said looking down.

He knew it was now or never. "Sakura, ever since I found out that you where…"

He stopped mid sentence, signaling her to stay quite. "Kakashi what is it?" She asked, knowing that something was off.

Looking to see that their packs where close, he grabbed them quickly and before Sakura knew what was happening she was in his arms again and they where off.

Only on thing could get him moving that fast, the hunter ninja's had found them.

With Naruto and Sasuke

They hadn't talked the whole way, not one word. They didn't have anything to talk about, and they both knew that if they did, they would start fighting and that would only slow them down.

They where moving much faster then most ninja where capable of going, and if it was any other time, they wouldn't be doing so. However she was in danger, something that should have never happened, but it did, and they where going to fix it.

"Naruto, we don't know how long she is going to have, we can't afford to lose any time. Go on ahead of me, find them and tell them that they need to get back to the village, that Tsunade knows everything."

Stopping, Naruto looked over to his former friend. "And what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to kill Kabuto, and I can only hope that that wont' kill Sakura."

"What!? You don't even know!"

"Look, I have to find him; he's they only on who is going to know how to fix this."

"And what if he doesn't help! What if he tells us the wrong thing, and we kill her! Have you thought about that?"

"The way I see it, she is going to die either way, unless we find him and ask."

"You suck Sasuke, if anything happens to her, I'll never stop hunting you down till they day you die."

"Oh please, Naruto, you know how that would end." And before he could say anything else, Sasuke took off and was gone from sight.

"I only hope that for the sake of Sakura, you are able to find him." Naruto said in a low voice, looking on ahead of him and took to the trees again, heading for his friend, and the one he loved.

End of Chapter 012

Sorry it took me so long to get this out, I have kind'a lost interest in this story, I don't want to stop, but I don't want to lose it and lose where it is going. I would be more then happy for some help, and would love if someone would like to co-author with me. I could tell you where I would like to see that story go, and then it would be up to you to fell in all the blanks.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to get another chapter up, but know that I haven't forgotten about this and I'm still working on it.

I love you all and thank you for all those of you who have read and reviewed.


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